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Vail Valley preps wrap for Thursday

Chris Freud
Vail, CO Colorado

FARMER’S KORNER – Just another day at the office.

Battle Mountain soccer trailed 1-0 for the entire first half, was down to 10 men in the final minutes and got the go-ahead goal from Sean Armitage in the 79th minute to squeak out a 2-1 victory over the host Tigers Thursday night.

“I think we have a lot of ability, but today was more about grit and character,” Huskies coach David Cope said. “Today was one of those games where we had to gut it out. For our guys to keep their unity and show perseverance so early in the season was good to see.”



Cope also gave a nod to a much-improved Summit squad, which got a lead, courtesy of Mark Nowakiwisky in the eighth minute. The Huskies hit the cross bar in the 33rd minute off a corner kick, but didn’t score until the 48th.

It was sophomore time as Alex Trujillo got the ball out wide, shook two men and then crossed it to Roberto Diaz, who dove into the box to finish it with a header.

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Battle Mountain had a goal called back on offsides with 10 minutes left. As the game got chippier, yellows were dealt and the Huskies lost Erick Briones for the rest of the match.

Nonetheless, the Huskies found a way to win. Broby Leeds knocked the through ball to Armitage and the Huskies came away with three points.

Battle Mountain’s schedule doesn’t get any easier as the Huskies host Montrose Saturday at 2 p.m.

“And another gray hair sprouts,” Cope joked.

Coal Ridge tops Eagle Valley

NEW CASTLE – It’s better to start against a good team and lose, rather than to blow away a bad one and win.

“I like it because we can play a game against a low-level team and find all the things we’re good at,” Eagle Valley soccer coach Jason Rittmiller said after the Devils dropped a 7-2 nonconference game at Coal Ridge Thursday. “But the sooner we find out what we need to fix, the better off we’re going to be.”

The host Titans were a tall order in the season opener for Eagle Valley (0-1). Coal Ridge went 16-2 last season and made the 3A state quarterfinals before falling to The Classical Academy. The Titans blanked the Devils, 5-0, in last year’s season opener at Hot Stuff Stadium, so Thursday was a measure of progress.

Kevin Escobar and Edgar Adino scored for Eagle Valley. They were part of of what Rittmiller sees as a potent offense with a lot of speed. On the other side of the ledger, the coach said that the Devils need to work on keeping their formation, shoring up a few defensive holes and learning to trust each other a little more.

The Devils host Middle Park Tuesday at 6 p.m. in Gypsum.

Volleyball

Devils take Warriors in five

GRAND JUNCTION – Here’s a new one – we’ve got a volleyball coach who likes it when his team plays the full five games.

“It’s nice to play five games,” Eagle Valley coach Shawn Weatherred said. “We’ve got a lot of things to look at.”

And all’s well that ends well, too, as the Devils won their first match of the season, going the distance and winning Game 5, 15-11, at Grand Junction Thursday.

Weatherred said he didn’t know what to expect going into the opener, given the turnover of graduation, but Eagle Valley progressed as the match went along.

“I think the seniors are ready to be seniors and make it their team – Alex (Lassa), Kelsey (Vangoey) and Erin (Burnett),” Weatherred said, also noting that senior Maddie McGinty was away on a family emergency. “It was nice to get to play in different situations. We did a lot of shuffling.”

Eagle Valley returns home Tuesday for Aspen.

Montrose sweeps Huskies

EDWARDS – This is why a team plays nonconference games, so just remain calm, everyone.

Montrose took the opener from Battle Mountain volleyball, 25-20, 25-16, 25-15, Thursday night in Edwards. New coach Jason Fitzgerald sees it as a place to begin.

“Montrose is pretty good and they played good defense,” he said. “What I like was that we worked really hard on executing the system we play now at Battle Mountain. Now, we need to pass better to get better.”

Battle Mountain is home Tuesday for Summit.

Golf

Clark leads Saints at Cobble Creek

MONTROSE – The Vail Christian golf team had a bit of a different look Thursday at the Cobble Creek Golf Club, but still some nice results.

With Cooper Gould and Robby Bowles attending to academics – this is still high school golf – Tony Clark topped Vail Christian with an 86. Kevin Boselli cracked 100 with a 98 and Nigel Johnsen made his first varsity golf appearance.

All four local teams are at the Vail Golf Club on Tuesday.

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


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