Huskies storm past Summit; Steamboat next
EDWARDS — Apparently, the ball girl has some game.
Freshman Audrey Teague, who has watched more soccer than most kids her age probably should on the Battle Mountain sideline chasing after stray projectiles, rang up a hat trick on Friday night as the Huskies cruised past Summit County, 7-0, in Edwards.
“I’ve definitely been looking forward to coming into a family, like Battle Mountain’s,” Teague said. “The environment is great. Being able to step on the field with varsity is a fun time.”
Teague capped her hat trick on a breakaway late and the Teague family went nuts out of pride in the press box.
As exciting as the hat trick was, the bigger theme three games into the season for Battle Mountain (3-0) is a bunch of different players finding the back of the net. With a lot of goal scoring having graduated last spring, finding new sharpshooters was a top priority this season.
Support Local Journalism
On Friday, the Huskies got six of their seven from underclassmen, so that’s encouraging.
“We’re definitely building,” Huskies coach David Cope said. “It’s hard to think we played better than we did against Eagle (Valley on Tuesday). At times today, we did. It was great to see players come of the bench and contribute. It was great to see Audrey get her first hat trick of high school. She’s been waiting a long time for that. I thought Avery Weaver had a superb game too.”
Big game ahead
Weaver ripped the net in the 20th and the 63rd minutes. That’s four goals in three games for the sophomore, who is clearly stepping up.
“We have to step into the roles we’re replacing,” she said. “They’re big and hard to replace, for sure. We just have to have confidence and know we have to do it. Someone has to do it.”
After three games, they’re doing it. Seven different Huskies have scored this season. Mallory Skidmore added her name to the list in the second minute against the Tigers. It’s worth noting she’s already matched her brother Jack’s total from the fall. (Yes, Jack was a goalie and successfully converted a penalty kick during the Valor Christian playoff game, but we wanted to give his some guff, nonetheless.)
Teague and Weaver traded goals until the 75th minute when Isabell McMurrain notched her first varsity goal.
After the game, Cope was probably just as pleased with the goose egg his defense posted as with the goals scored. A clean sheet was one of the Huskies’ goals for Friday night after surrendering two to the Tigers in the season opener.
Next up is a trip to archrival Steamboat Springs. The home-and-home games are always the first circled on the calendar, given that the two teams vie for the Slope title seemingly every year.
Throw in that the two teams also met in the second round of the state playoffs last year with the Huskies winning 3-2 in overtime, and the stage is set.