No. 9 Battle Mountain boys hockey team splits weekend matchups against Heritage and Crested Butte
The Huskies built a 3-1 first-period lead against the Eagles, the No. 7 ranked team in 5A
Sloane Thompson/Courtesy photo
The Battle Mountain boys hockey team split a pair of home contests last weekend. The Huskies fell to Heritage 6-3 on Friday but came back to defeat Crested Butte 5-1 on Saturday at Dobson Ice Arena.
“(We) faced two tough opponents and demonstrated both resilience and potential,” stated head coach George Wilson, who was pleased with his team’s strong start against the Eagles — who are ranked seventh in 5A — in the first game. The Huskies jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the first period. Luke Reynolds, Connor Wadey and Trevor Dunn each put the puck in the back of the net, with Miles Kipp contributing on two goals and Gus Wenninger and Mitchell Humphrey assisting on the others.
But Wilson said the 5A squad’s depth “proved too much as the game wore on.” Heritage scored with 14 minutes remaining in the second period and then tied things up a minute later en route to the three-goal victory.
“Despite the result, this game showed that the Huskies can compete with any team in Colorado High School ice hockey,” the coach added. “To take the next step, the team will focus on refining skill development, shot selection and building endurance for full-game intensity.”
The Huskies bounced back in dominant fashion against their league rivals on Saturday. Five different players — Kipp, Wadey, Dunn, Roman Gennett and Gannon Sharkey — scored goals and Cameron Mather made 29 saves to secure the 5-1 win over the Titans. Wilson complimented Kipp for his versatility at the forward and defenseman positions and also praised Wadey, his senior captain, for “leading by example” with two goals in two games. Wilson also noted that the junior varsity squad looked strong in defeating Rampart 9-2 last Wednesday and battling a stout Poudre team in a 4-2 loss on Saturday.
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“Both teams showed great effort and improvement over the week, setting a strong foundation for the rest of the season,” he said.
The Huskies (6-4 overall, 4-2 league) have the week off before traveling to No. 3 Steamboat Springs (10-2 overall, 5-2 league) on Jan. 24 and No. 1 Glenwood Springs (10-0-1 overall, 7-0 league) on Jan. 25.
