The Battle Mountain Huskies brought a 4A state title to the mountains with a perfect 20-0 season. The perennial contender should be back in the mix again despite losing important parts.
Photo by Paul DiSalvo
The word "magical" seems to be the most popular one used to describe what the
Battle Mountain (Edwards, Colo.) boys soccer team accomplished last season. Sportswriters and coaches alike just keep throwing that word out there.
When you take a look at the entire list of accomplishments, it seems appropriate. The Huskies won the CHSAA 4A title with a flawless 20-0 record, eliminated the Nos. 1, 2 and 3 seeds as a No. 6 and finished with a No. 21 national ranking by MaxPreps, not to mention an honorable mention from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.
Senior midfielder Roberto Diaz
Photo by Paul DiSalvo
Not bad for a program that hails from the mountainous part of the state where skiing is king, and considering all of the quality squads in the metro Denver area.
See all the 2013 Fall Soccer Early Contenders Now the Huskies have to find a way to keep the magic going. Ten seniors who played in the state championship (a 4-2 penalty kicks win over Palmer Ridge after a scoreless draw in the snow) have moved on, yet the Huskies plan to rely on tradition and an undefeated JV team as they attempt to keep the top hat and cape on. They are still a national title Early Contender, presented by Dick's Sporting Goods and adidas.
"The run in 2012 was magical for our team, for the community and for our
school. This is a new season, with new players and with a new story to
write. Bring it on," said longtime coach
David Cope, whose team forged a 65-6 scoring margin. "We do bring back three of our better starters from last year and a bunch of kids who are yearning to prove themselves."
The Huskies reaching the playoffs is as predictable as January blizzards dumping fluffy snow in the Rocky Mountains. They've qualified every year since 1998 and recently have taken 4A Western Slope titles in 2004-07 and 2010-12.
In order to add to that list, Battle Mountain will need to replace the production of Joe LyBarger, the Conference Player of the Year and the team's leading scorer (24 goals, 13 assists). Also gone is starting goalkeeper Christian Espinoza (an all-state performer).
But the cupboard is hardly bare. The Huskies have a proven track record of developing players who slide into the varsity life, and four-year starer and all-state performer
Roberto Diaz (15 goals, 13 assists) is more than capable of becoming the formidable force that leads the team. Second-team all-state player
Alex Trujillo (nine goals, 15 assists) is also back along with three-year starter
Brandon Osorio.
See the entire Battle Mountain photo galleryLocal outlook: "Battle Mountain has built a serious program under David Cope. It really started to click with 1998 and the first playoff
appearance. He has built a tremendous program by developing excellent players who come through the JV program and fall in seamlessly. So the
success continues. They had a very rich Class of 2013 that built and
built towards that incredible season, which was the ride of a lifetime
as a reporter. People think they will be a bit down, that they will not be
elite at a state level. Yet history indicates that writing them off in the Western Slope and state playoffs might be a bad idea."
- Chris Freud, Sports Editor at the Vail Daily
