Slowed Tuesday afternoon by a bus breakdown en route to their destination, the Bayfield boys didn't let hosting Montezuma-Cortez (which quickly arranged transportation to pick them up) slow their roll any further.
Getting two more goals from senior Tilden Berriman, upping his 2017 total already to eight, the Wolverines backed up last Saturday's wild 3-1 home win over Telluride with an unusual 3-0 shutout of the Panthers.
"The crazy thing is that none of the goals happened until stoppage time," said head coach Chris Zoltowski. "Exciting ending to a frustrating game."
Newcomer 'Pepe' Loya at last broke a scoreless deadlock.
Loya's score reportedly came in the 81st minute, and Berriman's in the 82nd and 83rd before the final whistle apparently saved M-CHS (0-3, 0-1 3A Intermountain) from sustaining even more damage.
"It was interesting to say the least," Zoltowski said after his crew improved to 3-1 overall, 2-1 in the IML. "I think I jinxed them when I had them wear yellow jerseys with yellow socks."
Perhaps not; as another of BHS' numerous color combinations, it may ultimately blend in nicely.
An all-white jersey-shorts-socks look unfortunately ran out of luck in last Friday afternoon's home-opener, as Ridgway swiped a 3-2 win in double overtime.
That makes Saturday's 11 a.m. rematch up in Ouray County some must-see soccer (the Demons will enter an improved 4-1, 4-1). But a white jersey-black shorts-white socks scheme held its own the next morning against the mighty Miners.
Berriman, who'd admitted during warm-ups that he was "a little nervous," quickly shook off the jitters by burying a 12th-minute penalty kick past goalie Thomas Wells for a 1-0 lead. Telluride's Andreas Moorman then received a yellow card two minutes later, but nearly redeemed himself with a blast off the crossbar in the 35th.
Still with the advantage at halftime, BHS immediately ramped the pressure up when play resumed. Able to draw Wells far off his line to deny his shot, Wolverine Shea Marx calmly tapped the rebound back to Berriman, who dribbled behind him before launching a swift follow-up from the elbow of the guests' penalty area.
"I'd been just playing everywhere lately," laughed Marx, known for his defensive work, but with speed Zoltowski couldn't help but try utilizing in the attack, "and I knew 'T' was there. So I played to him and figured he'd get the shot off. Thankfully he scored!"
With Wells still not yet back in proper position, the shot went to the keeper's far side and in for an unexpected 2-0 lead in the 42nd minute. Telluride curbed the enthusiasm somewhat when Ridgewalker Busch converted a penalty kick in the 46th, but after teammate Max Bailis clanged a shot off the bar in the 58th and received a disqualifying red card in the 60th, Bayfield rebuilt their lead for good.
Armando Lerma zipped a free kick off Wells, who couldn't grip the ball, and Marcus Isiordia was right there to cash in the carom only two minutes after Bailis' ejection. Ahead by two scores, it was only a matter of keeping pace with the Miners, who were still able to make runs at goalie Chad Winkler, for 18 minutes or so.
The home crowd roared for Winkler, who earned the shutout in net at Montezuma-Cortez. Against Telluride, he preserved one of the program's more quality victories in recent memory by robbing Busch in the 80th.
"It's a big confidence-booster for the rest of the season," Marx said, more or less setting the scene for Tuesday's road win. "We're all hyped, because we know this is the season we can go places."
After the rematch with Ridgway, the Wolverines will visit Pagosa Springs on Tuesday, Sept. 12, then welcome Alamosa to town on the 15th.
QUOTABLE: If any Bayfield players were indeed nervous prior to facing Telluride, it may have been for other reasons than their well-known physical play in recent matches, leading to multiple cautions and send-offs.
"No worry," quipped Marx. "We've all got shoved around, we've all been beat up before. We've been practicing our physicality and stuff, so we were prepared for it."
