BAYFIELD
The ball moved crisply and found the back of the net often for the Bayfield High School girls soccer team against Ridgway.
BHS (3-0, 2-0 Intermountain League) beat Ridgway (0-3, 0-3 IML) 4-0 on Friday at Wolverine Country Stadium to stretch its season-opening winning streak to three games.
The Wolverines and freshman goalkeeper Kailee Millard kept a clean sheet for the second consecutive game primarily by keeping the ball away from Ridgway.
“That’s what I want them to do; I want them to win the ball on their side and just put it back in so we can keep the pressure on their defense,” BHS head coach Jen Zelinski said.
It led to shots early and goals soon after.
BHS peppered the Demons’ goal with five shots before Maddy Duran found the back of the net in the 12th minute.
“I love scoring early; it scares the other team,” said Duran, daughter of Joanna and Tom Duran. “Our team has more confidence, and it gets the wind in our sails.”
Duran found herself at the helm for another goal in the 24th minute, as well.
Rickie Baker jumped on the score sheet in the 29th minute to give BHS a 3-0 lead at halftime.
“In the past, we’ve always had a superstar we could rely on to score all our goals for us,” Zelinski said. “This year, we don’t have that. We have a lot of good players, so it forces us to be more of a team; I’d rather be a better team any day.”
Meaghan Mooney added the Wolverines’ final goal of the day in the 61st minute. Her initial attempt was saved, but Mooney tucked the rebound in the corner to push the margin to four goals.
“I think that’s a big part of our team is following our team and following our shots,” said Mooney, daughter of Donald and Paula Mooney.
The Wolverines will look to follow Friday’s win with another one against league rival Telluride at 11 a.m. Saturday at BHS.
“We want to beat them, and we want to be the top team. That’s a big part of the rivalry between Bayfield and Telluride is wanting to be No. 1 and be the league champ,” Mooney said.
kgrabowski@durangoherald.com
