In a game that will be remembered more for its hard fouls than its outstanding goals, the Montezuma-Cortez High School boys’ soccer team fell to Delta High School, 4-1, on Sept. 6.
Playing with confidence after their recent 7-0 victory over Bayfield, MCHS came out firing on all cylinders, scoring in the game’s 5th minute after Andrew Laymon found the back of the net, following a breakaway, to put the Panthers ahead 1-0.
During the game’s subsequent minutes, Delta began to find its rhythm and shortly after being stopped on a nice slide tackle by Panthers’ defender, Ian Roberson, scored their first goal of the game on a strike by Delta forward, Cruz Archuleta in the 25th minute.
With the game tied at 1, Delta continued to push the action, striking again on a 34th minute goal by Archuleta to move ahead 2-0.
Beginning the second half with renewed energy, MCHS nearly scored on shots by Roberson and Taren Lanier, but unfortunately, both drives barely missed their mark.
Taking advantage of MCHS’s missed opportunities, Delta scored for the 3rd time on a goal by Ramiro Fausto in the 48th minute and for the 4th time on a goal by Abraham Ontiveros in the 51st minute.
After multiple saves by MCHS goalie Bridger Brenner throughout the rest of the half, the score remained 4-1 in favor of Delta.
With the loss, MCHS fell to 1-1-0 while Delta improved to 3-2-0 with the win.