Rimsky-Korsakov would have been delighted.

The Battle Mountain and Eagle Valley girls soccer symphony had a “Capriccio Espagnol” feel to it: Priscila Rico blasted an attention-getting opening goal two minutes in, Addison Mandeville and Jordan Asbury soloed a cadenza or two in the middle and both teams crescendoed through a thrilling, back-and-forth final movement.

“That’s a good analogy,” Eagle Valley head coach Jess Platt said after the 2-2 tie. “The intensity and physicality of the game definitely built up.”

---

---

Rico tapped home a beautiful cross from Izzy Hiatt to put the home team up 1-0 right away. The sophomore described the Devils as a close-knit group.

“When you have those connections, you make good chemistry,” she said. “So, it’s easier to play with each other.”

---

---

Battle Mountain’s Evelyn Steinberg answered with 25 minutes remaining in the half. Head coach Lauren Lux said her team’s game plan didn’t hyper-focus on Eagle Valley’s individual pieces per se. Rather, she stressed “building cohesion” on their own attack. As the game wore on, however, players from both squads — several of whom team up with the Vail Valley Soccer Club every summer — started to figure each other out. Things got chippy.

“The girls know each other really well, so I feel like when there’s that familiarity, it always ratchets things up,” Lux said. “It was our most physically intense game of the season.”

Mandeville made a move up the middle at the 61st minute, deking past Battle Mountain goalie Elle Glendining before rolling in a left-footed grounder for the go-ahead goal.

“She’s a super talented player,” Platt said of Mandeville, who was out with a concussion last week during the Devils’ losses to Summit and Montrose. “People want to put the ball on her foot because she always does something good with it.”

Mandeville, who also stars for the Devils’ basketball team, brought her power forward footwork and body control to the pitch on Tuesday. The future Metro State soccer player possesses a skilled, soft touch on the ball even when she has three or even four defenders swarming her, Platt observed.

“I’m sure she wishes she finished a little more today,” the coach continued. “But I mean, I think she played a great game.”

Mandeville nearly made more magic happen in the game’s final coda. With just under 14 minutes to go, Alondra Ruiz broke down the Huskies, squeaking past the final line of defense her home end zone’s corner. The senior midfielder centered it perfectly to a charging Mandeville up the middle, but the ball sailed over the crossbar.

At the moment, the miss seemed inconsequential. But 70 seconds later, Jordan Asbury — who stepped into the less-familiar outside back role for the first time that night — made the Devils pay. The junior stopped on a dime and rifled an arching 25-yard right-footer into the back of the net.

“I told her, ‘hey, you can go in on the attack. There’s no reason an outside back can’t score a goal,'” Lux said. “She kind of took the challenge and seized it.”

From there, the music escalated.

Hiatt threw the first haymaker, but her sideline shot was corralled by a curled up Glendining with 9:51 to go. Three minutes later, the goalie read Mandeville’s body language perfectly, diving right to stop a wide-open breakaway.

“I kind of know how she plays a little bit because I’ve watched her so much through club,” Glendining said. “But I was like, I’m not letting her get another one past me.”

“Elle has really had a number of saves this season and even when it’s not a save, she does a great job of coming out on her line, taking away angles and really helping out our whole team,” Lux said. “We know she’s really strong back there.”

On the other end, Eagle Valley’s rookie goalie, Ellia Blakey held down the fort as things grew increasingly frantic. With four minutes to go, Steinberg channeled her inner Flo-Jo, bolting past a sleepy Eagle Valley defender to snatch the ball in the box, but her shot was stopped. Then, with 42 seconds left, Asbury fired a cross-field pass to a teammate at the opposite wing, but the layup was deflected high. Blakey rose, fully extended, to meet the shot with both hands, but could only tip it to herself before reeling it in with a one-handed save.

“I was just trying to make sure the ball didn’t get behind me because we didn’t want to lose,” Blakey said. “A tie is a tie, but it’s not a win.”

The St. Olaf shortstop recruit has brought natural athleticism and great hand-eye coordination to the position. At the behest of her assistant, former baseball coach Bret Moyer, Platt placed Blakey in the net in a junior varsity contest against Summit last year. The coach was convinced Blakey had the goalie mindset.

“Goals get scored on you. It’s inevitable — you can’t let it crush you,” Platt explained. “And she always moves forward with a mentality of ‘what can I do differently next time.'”

‘Next time’ for the two teams will be May 2. At that point, the 4A Western Slope title could be on the line.

“I feel like it’s wide open,” Glendining said regarding the lay of the league before adding that Tuesday’s game had a fitting resolution, considering the context.

“It’s a rivalry, but we’re also friends,” she said. “So honestly, no one lost.”