The Summit High School varsity boys soccer team won a weird 4-0 game at Denver West Saturday, Sept. 11.

The Tigers (2-2) arrived Saturday for an 11 a.m. game time to find the Cowboys (0-3) were not in attendance. Once the miscommunication on the game’s start time was ironed out, the Tigers and Cowboys began the game with the Tigers sporting 11 players and the Cowboys seven.

“Mentally, for a high school kid, that’s strange,” head coach Jotwan Daniels said. “We played a little flat, a little slow.”

As the Tigers eased into the game against the undermanned Cowboys, a new Denver West player would show up every few minutes. All of a sudden, 30 minutes into the game, the Cowboys had 11 players and were even-strength against Summit with the game still scoreless at 0-0.

“And now it’s like, ‘OK, let’s play,'” Daniels said. “As a coach you ask, ‘Where was that to start?’ Our tempo was low and the effort wasn’t quite where we needed it to be.”

With the game now 11 versus 11, the Tigers played much better in the latter portion of the first half. The Tigers found their first goal on an assist from sophomore midfielder Santiago Casco to midfielder Andrew Martin for the senior captain’s first goal of the season as he continues to grit through a lingering groin injury.

“I was happy for him,” Daniels said. “I’d argue he gave us a captain’s effort today. Him and (fellow senior captain defender) Collin Doran were solid.”

The Tigers also received a boost of energy from senior wing Gannon Heisler and junior Alan Gonzalez at the wing positions. Daniels said the tempo change resulted in elevated attacking play leading to a great individual effort by Alan Casillas who beat a Denver West player in the box and earned a penalty kick he hammered home.

Then Martin won possession after some defensive moves in the midfield to score his second goal of the game, leading Summit to a 3-0 halftime lead.

Daniels said though the second-half heat — it was reportedly 100 degrees on the turf field — got to the Tigers, Tigers junior Fabian Cuevas put the game away with a great individual effort goal.

On defense, Tiger junior goalkeeper made three saves but it was Doran’s two goal-line clears that helped Summit keep control of the game.

“If not for the defense being as stubborn and dogged as they were protecting that goalkeeper they might have gotten a chance or two that probably would have changed things,” Daniels said.

Summit is next scheduled to play Tuesday, Sept. 14, at Vail Mountain School.