Denied a clash with roster-depleted Class 2A Denver Academy last Saturday, the Bayfield High School boys’ soccer team nevertheless took full advantage of their Fall 2021-opening excursion to the Metro Area and beyond.
“We’d got whooped by Mead 7-0, but ... last year’s team would have got mercy-ruled by them in the first half,” said head coach Chris Zoltowski, recalling BHS’ official opener on the 20th, east of Longmont at the 4A Mavericks’ renovated field. “We were like, ‘How many of them are under six-foot?’ One – and that was it. They were good, but we were lucky to play them.”
“And then we were supposed to play Academy on Saturday but they canceled on us and we ended up staying two nights. The first we’d stayed because we were going to play Academy, and then Saturday the parents all signed their kids out and we all went to the Rapids game (a 2-1 win over Real Salt Lake) together. There was, like, 60 of us!”
“We did ... not a meet-and-greet with one player, but a Q&A and it was awesome. We have a good bond right now.”
And if blessed indeed be the tie that binds, the Wolverines should be in strong shape when the kickoff of their home opener versus non-league Manitou Springs comes at 4 p.m. Friday inside Wolverine Country Stadium.
Having lost only 4-nil to Manitou away during the COVID-altered Spring ’21 season, Zoltowski was very much upbeat about his reformed squad when speaking via phone Wednesday evening.
“Every time we play Manitou, it’s always a good game. I think the boys ... play at the level that they’re up against, which is why I think they’re going to fight hard against Manitou. I’m excited to see them play together as a unit with every player there.”
Bayfield’s slated test Saturday against Colorado Springs St. Mary’s, however, has already been rescheduled.
“I just found out,” said Zoltowski, already in his sixth year as the BHS boys’ skipper. “I don’t know, but I think it’s going to be Sept. 21. That’s the tentative date right now. They’re actually doing SATs.”
Thanks to a late-season five-match win streak, Manitou — ranked No. 9 in this week’s CHSAANow.com Class 3A poll (down from a preseason No. 5 standing) — completed Spring ’21 an impressive 9-3 overall, and a first-place 5-1 against Tri-Peaks League opposition, including a 10-0 away rout of St. Mary’s.
Awarded the 6-seed in the 16-team Class 3A State Tournament bracket, a 2-1 upset loss to No. 14 Greeley’s Frontier Academy — nicknamed the Wolverines, coincidentally — in the second-round quarterfinals suddenly halted the Mustangs’ run.
Frontier Academy reached the grand finale, where it fell 2-1 (in double-OT) to Denver-based 1-seed Colorado Academy.
Beyond ready to bounce back from finishing 0-6 in the 3A Southwestern and 0-9 overall, Bayfield will again look to utilize speed over size and precision over power this fall. Fortunate to return veterans such as seniors Caleb Donelan and Tristan French plus junior Gavin Larson, Zoltowski expressed excitement over BHS’ offensive potential.
“Those guys, their combinations, their passes ... it’s going to be exciting,” he said. “Gavin makes some wicked ... diagonal runs, Tristan’s improved so much, (he) doesn’t just run crazy anymore, and Caleb’s my captain now and he’s so good with the kids. Encourages them, helps them.”
Sophomores Asher Madonna and Lance Mitchell also return along with junior Andy Monger, and Zoltowski touted the possibilities offered by two new faces in out-of-state move-in junior Shaw Foster plus Spanish foreign-exchange senior Willy Coca.
“Willy’s going to be one of our attacking mids along with Shaw, who moved here from California,” Zoltowski explained. “We’ve been working on through passes, breaking lines and penetrating — our attack’s looking really solid.”
“I change the formation based off what I have; I don’t just always do, like, 4-4-2,” the boss noted. “This year I’m doing, like, a 4-3-3, but Shaw — probably the best player on this team already —and Willy are left- and right-center attacking mids, with Larson at striker. And Andy’s, like, my holding mid. It kind of looks like an arrowhead, the shape, but I think it’s going to work.”
Defensively, BHS will look to returning veterans Silas Wilbourn, a junior, and sophomore Shae Railsback to stabilize the back line in front of goalie Gavin Davis, now a senior tasked with replacing graduated Quintan Hunter after seeing some action last season while being molded from a Durango lacrosse player into a keeper.
“(Assistant coach Zac) Keeler’s doing his thing, turning an inexperienced keeper into a kid who knows how to dive safely, make saves,” said Zoltowski, also aided this season again by Jesse Larson. “And Davis is doing a great job; he’s got a great kick and he’s brave.”
