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Summit soccer falls prey to hat trick in 1-3 loss to Battle Mountain

Phil Lindeman
plindeman@summitdaily.com
Summit's Sarah Sones (2) and Haleigh Lecklitner (9) move the ball past a Battle Mountain defender during a home varsity soccer game on April 11. The Tigers lost, 1-3, thanks to a hat trick from Battle Mountain's Avery Weaver.
Phil Lindeman / plindeman@summitdaily.com |

Summit vs. Battle Mountain — April 11

1st 2nd Final

Summit 0 1 1

VC 2 1 3

FRISCO — All it took for Summit to lose its first of the season to Battle Mountain were two mistakes in the first half. That, and Avery Weaver.

On Tuesday afternoon, the Lady Tigers hosted the Huskies for the second meeting of the season between two heated soccer rivals. Summit stole one from Battle Mountain earlier in the season, a 2-1 victory in Edwards to kick off a dispiriting early-season slide for their foes, and the girls had a chance this week to go undefeated against their foes for the first time in years.

But then there was Weaver. The junior midfielder scored all three of the Huskies goals, two in the first half and one in the second, for a hat trick and the win, 3-1. The loss gives Summit a 2-9 overall record and 2-7 record in the 4A Western Slope, while Battle Mountain continues to improve after a shocking 0-5 start and is now 5-5 overall and 5-3 in the league — good enough for third behind No. 2 Glenwood Springs and No. 1 Palisade. Summit sits at sixth ahead of Rifle.



“We were composed in the second half,” Summit head coach Tommy Gogolen said. “We made two mistakes that cost us two goals, but Battle Mountain is a good team. They’re on a five-game win streak and they are tough.”

Battle Mountain dominated possession and chances in the first half, with eight shots on goal to Summit’s three. The first Summit mistake came early in the 12th minute, when Weaver reeled in a quick throw-in deep in Summit territory, dribbled past one defender and slipped the ball past freshman keeper Anna Tomlinson.



The second goal didn’t come until the 33rd minute — Weaver again went one-on-one with a defender for a close-range goal, 2-0 — but Battle Mountain had plenty of chances in the meantime. Summit’s defense looked haphazard for the first 15 minutes and then found its footing, while Battle Mountain’s offense started to struggle with passing. The Huskies had another chance on a corner in the 38th minute, when the ball ricocheted between four or five players before it was lobbed up and over the crossbar. And that was huge — a 0-3 start to the second half just feels more devastating than 0-2.

Summit’s offense kicked into high gear in the second half, but only after Weaver completed the hat trick with another up-close-and-personal goal in the 50th minute. That’s when Summit started double-teaming Weaver, led by senior Marin Pennell, and that gave strikers Tanner McCann and Piper Kunst room to set up breakaway chances.

Those chances didn’t do much until the final 15 minutes, when McCann started taking rocket hits from the 30 and 35-yard lines. One hit the football upright in the 60th minute, another nailed the crossbar in the 70th minute, and then McCann finally found the net on a penalty kick for Kunst in the 77th minute. Summit nearly had another goal in those final three minutes, but Battle Mountain contained the ball and forced a wayward corner kick to end the game with the win, 3-1.

Summit next faces Rifle away in two weeks after spring break on April 29. Game time is 11 a.m.


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