Huskies soccer zooms past Summit, 7-0

EDWARDS — Battle Mountain girls soccer scored the touchdown and the extra point against Summit County on Thursday in Edwards.

OK, so it’s the wrong kind of football, but the Huskies’ 7-0 victory over the Tigers did the trick in many ways.

Logan Nash and Morgan Croke both had hat tricks with Emily Cope adding said extra point. But the real story of Thursday night was four assists from Acacia Ortiz.

The Huskies (2-0) could have played kickball against Summit, booming the ball over the top and have someone run underneath it for a score. Instead, they played methodically, reversing the field, working the flanks and producing multiple-phase possessions.

“It’s really exciting,” Ortiz said. “It’s fun to watch the play develop and it’s more fun when you see what your hard work can do, and what other people’s hard work can do.”

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“She was pulling strings,” coach David Cope said of Ortiz. “I just thought between her and Emily, they have a really nice way of controlling the game. They have command.”

Stipulated, the Tigers aren’t the best side that Battle Mountain will see this year, but the team is establishing a fundamentally sound way of playing that will serve it well in its quest for bigger and better things.

Nash started the scoring and her trifecta in the 15th minute. Not to say in any way that No. 13 was “off her game” in the Tuesday opener — she did have a goal — but her finishing touch was definitely on display on Thursday.

Ortiz to Croke twice had the Huskies humming at 3-0. Croke got the hat trick out of the way before intermission. Croke may seem like a bit of a surprise in the goal column to start the season — four so far — but she was the second-leading scorer for this quad last season with 11 last year.

‘JUST KEEP DOING THAT’

The halftime talk wasn’t exactly tactical.

“I thought, in the first half, the interchange of positions and the fluidity with which we played was superb,” Cope said. “At halftime, I was like, ‘I don’t think I’m going to make something up to tell you. Just keep doing that.’”

Nash wrapped up her hattie in the 44th and Cope, the midfielder, punched one in a little later to please the team’s unofficial senior technical staff — Alan and Haze Cope, aka grandpa and grandma, up in the press box.

And who had the helpers on the second-half goals? Yep, Ortiz.

Junior Nicole Lasater had her first shutout between the pipes for the Huskies.

After what were, in fact, two conference games, but had the feel of friendlies, Battle Mountain gets its first test of the season, Palisade on Saturday. Kickoff is at noon in Edwards.

“These first few games, we’re getting comfortable,” Ortiz said. “These next few games will test what we can rally do. We’ll keep building more confidence as we go.”

Sports Editor Chris Freud can be reached at 970-748-2934, cfreud@vaildaily.com and @cfreud.