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Summit soccer struggles in opener

BRYCE EVANS
summit daily news
Summit County, Colorado
Summit Daily/Mark Fox
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FARMER’S KORNER – The Summit High girls’ soccer team had its first home game in recent memory Thursday, although the result is one the Tigers would like to forget.

With temperatures in the teens and wicked winds whipping through Farmer’s Korner, Summit lost its season opener 10-0 to Battle Mountain at Climax Molybdenum Field at Tiger Stadium.

With an inexperienced and young roster, SHS head coach Tommy Gogolen said Thursday’s result wasn’t as important as what the Tigers got out of it.



“Everyone played hard,” he said. “It’s just a matter of learning. I don’t question anyone’s effort, but it’s learning how to win a 50-50 ball, learning how to be in the right spot. That’s what we need to work on and teach these girls.”

Tiger goaltender Hailey Curnutte made 14 saves in the loss, constantly thwarting close-in scoring chances from the visiting Huskies.



Really, Curnutte felt that her team did a good job playing in front of her.

“We kept up with them a little,” the sophomore said. “They have a lot of girls that have played together as a team, and we have only a few returning players. … I’d say we defended them pretty well, even though we weren’t on the offensive side too much.”

The Tigers had a nervous start to what is thought to be the first home game in program history. Battle Mountain scored five goals in the first 17 minutes of play, putting Summit in a big hole it wouldn’t climb out of.

Even though Battle Mountain shuttled players from the sidelines to the warmth of the running team bus, its offense did cool off quite a bit. The Huskies scored sporadically the rest of the match and wound up stopping the game short of 80 minutes due to the 10-goal mercy rule.

“I’m happy that we basically made it all the way the end of the game. That’s encouraging,” Gogolen said. “It’s no fun losing when the score is that high, but they could have easily hung their heads after halftime and they didn’t.”

The Tigers played hard from start to finish Thursday, although they only mustered two shots on goal for the match, both coming from more than 20 yards out.

Gogolen was pleased with Curnutte’s play in goal, as well as the work of defenders Hannah Marion and Hanna Banks. He also credited freshman Cora Zimmerman with having a good game.

In the end, though, the coach just feels his team needs more practice time.

“We have a young crew. It was encouraging, though, because I saw a lot of good things,” Gogolen said. “We need to work on our possession. (We’re) still trying to shuffle the lineup and see who fits in well.”

The Tigers (0-1) are back on the pitch Tuesday, when they travel to take on St. Mary’s Academy at 4:30 p.m.


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