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The beat goes on: Huskies win

Chris Freud
BMBS Hernandez E BH 9-14 Bret Hartman/bhartman@vaildaily.com Battl Mountain's Edgar Hernandez, right, runs through Steamboat's Danny Carlson, left, Tuesday at Battle Mountain. Battle Mountain won, 6-0.
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CRAIG – Battle Mountain soccer took Moffat lightly last year and paid dearly with a loss in Craig.Not this year. Edgar Hernandez lifted the Huskies to a 2-1 win over the much-improved Bulldogs with a goal in the 51st minute as Battle Mountain raised its league mark to 5-0 in the 4A Slope.”Moffat’s good,” Huskies coach David Cope said. “You could tell by the way that the kids celebrated. A lot of teams are going to come up here and lose.”It’s happened to Rifle and Steamboat Springs, but not to the Huskies. Battle Mountain jumped out to a 1-0 lead on a surprising goal by Andy Banner. OK, maybe it’s not so surprising, given that it’s his 10th in six games.In the ninth minute, Dane Jacobs served the ball in and Banner played Moffat’s offsides trap perfectly. He caught the Moffat keeper in no-man’s land and buried the shot.

Cope said, “the writing was on the wall” for Moffat to score. The Bulldogs had already smashed a free kick off the crossbar and they finally tied it in the 33rd minute.The Huskies put it away in the 51st minute when Banner was taken down at the top of the box. Hernandez put his kick low and hard and to the near post for the win. Hernandez has five goals this season and three of them are game-winners.”I think (Andy and Edgar) both feel confident under the pressure,” Cope said. “I think that Andy, though he’s a senior, learned from Edgar just to be more on an even keel – not to get to upset or too excited. Edgar does that so well that you almost think he doesn’t care about the outcome. A great striker doesn’t care about missing 19 shots just as long as they get the game-winner.”The Man of the Match went to goalie Joel Gonzales. Unsung Hero went to Dane Jacobs who took one in the noggin while on the wall on a free kick.Battle Mountain finishes the first half of league play Saturday at 11 a.m. versus Glenwood Springs in Eagle-Vail. With the Huskies at 6-0 overall and 5-0 in league the team wouldn’t mind a little company in the form of a big crowd.

VMS comes back against OystersCARBONDALE – The Vail Mountain soccer team’s uniforms are blue and white. But, perhaps, the Gore Rangers should add a little gold.Tuesday, for the second time this season, VMS won on a golden goal, beating CRMS in the first overtime frame, 3-2. Sylvan Ellefson did the honors with a 45-yarder to move VMS to 2-0 in the 3A Slope.That capped a big VMS comeback. The Gore Rangers trailed the Oysters, 2-0, with 20 minutes to go.”We pulled Sylvan from the back,” said coach Bob Bandoni, who is getting in a zen-like state of readiness for this weekend’s Red Sox-Yankees series. “We were a bit exposed in back, but we knew e needed to gamble. We were not generating quality chances. Putting Sylvan in front gave us more possession in the final third and it resulted in goals.”



Patrick Scanlan, who had a golden goal in the season opener against St. Mary’s, halved the Oysters’ lead with a penalty kick. Minutes later, Casey Kleisinger got the ball just inside the 18 and cracked a shot toward the far post to tie the game.Meanwhile, VMS was playing without starting goalie Michael Busenhart, who was serving a red card from Saturday’s game against Roaring Fork. That left freshman Matt Stovall in net. Bandoni was very pleased with the way the team rallied around the frosh and the way Stovall played, which included a first-half save on a PK.Team Synergy (3-1 overall and 2-0 in the 3A Slope) heads to Paonia Saturday at 11 a.m., and Bandoni is just thrilled to be heading to that burgh.”We’re taking the A-train to Paonia,” he joked. “I told the kids to be careful on the streets and not to give any money to street people. We’re going to look for some delis. I’m sorry. There are only so many away games in cow pastures I can take.”Sports Editor Chris Freud can be reached at 949-0555, ext. 614, or cfreud@vaildaily.com.


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