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In sports, the thrill of victory has a way of cruelly and unfairly giving way to the agony of defeat.

Two days after thrilling its home crowd with a double-overtime shootout victory, the Battle Mountain boys soccer team left the state semifinals on the wrong side of a stunning 3-2 loss to Air Academy late Wednesday night at Jeffco Stadium. While Husky head coach Dave Cope admitted the former game was “not our best performance” — he felt the latter was perhaps the defending state champion’s best.

“Arguably, objectively, that’s one of the best Battle Mountain performances ever, especially considering the magnitude of the game,” he said.

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The longtime coach knows metrics don’t guarantee victory.

“But it tilts the game hugely in our favor, and more often than not, it will result in a victory,” he continued. “Last night it didn’t and that’s tough to take. … That’s the beauty and the pain of this sport — a team can hang on and give themselves a chance and then steal something.”

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The Huskies, after allowing Noah Kostanian Urvik’s rebound goal off a corner kick in the 37th minute, thoroughly dominated the second half. It wasn’t until 20:41 remaining in the game, however, that they had something to show for it. Charlie Strauch lobbed a perfect back door pass from the near side corner of the 18-yard box to a charging Jakob Methvin at the opposite post to tie things up.

“We were in this situation where people might have been panicking or taking crazy chances and Charlie was showing patience,” Cope commented. “He stood out there wide, waited for the ball to come, and when it came, he whipped it in and it was virtually undefendable the way he hit it with pace and curl.”

The equalizer changed the tenor of the game. Twenty seconds later, Urvik collided with Battle Mountain’s Emilio Paulon. Frustrated by the foul call, the Air Academy senior threw a punch at Paulon, drawing a red card to shorthand his team the rest of the way.

Battle Mountain continued to pepper Air Academy with numerous opportunities, ultimately, ending regulation with a 21-8 shots-on-goal advantage. With 1:22 to go, Methvin dribbled down to the near post, crossing to his left leg and centering the ball at the last second to Carlos Ventura, who put in what looked to be the game winner from inside the six. Methvin beating his guy one-on-one, getting three feet from the post and then unselfishly cutting it back was what Cope called “an old-school Battle Mountain goal.”

“There’s nobody in the world who is going to save that,” he said. “You have to defend the shot from Jakob — here’s one of the top players in the state bearing down on you.”

Cope was also thrilled for Ventura, whose seen reduced minutes as the team dropped a forward to garner additional grip at the midfield and grant the undeniably hot Paulon — with his four goals in three playoff games — more playing time.

“When he came on and scored that goal, I was so happy for him,” Cope said of Ventura, who was mobbed in the corner of the field by his teammates. “We hope that’s what our program reflects: kids stepping up when they’re called on.”

Unfortunately, burning out the final 82 seconds proved impossible for the Huskies, who struggled to clear the ball for the first time all evening. Coming off a midfield throw in, Andrew Foster drilled the near post from the baseline with just 11 ticks to go. Initially, players paused at the seemingly game-ending deflection out of bounds, but when it was ruled that Battle Mountain goalie Ezequiel Alavarez had gotten a hand on the ball, too, Foster jumped into action and hustled to the corner for one last hurrah. His corner kick connected with the shoulder of Danny Sanchez — who was standing in the box — with 0.1 seconds to go.

When the referee called a handball on Sanchez, the two-year Husky captain and all-state defender collapsed to the ground in disbelief.

“In the end, Danny’s a phenomenal player and we don’t even get to the semifinal without him. We don’t win a state title last year without him,” Cope stated. “He’s achieved as much or more as any player we’ve ever had in our program. … It’s just a harsh thing.”

On the ensuing penalty kick, Alvarez dove to his left but Air Academy’s Ben Brown went center, sending the game into overtime.

For the first 12 minutes, it appeared the extra period was only going to prolong the Kadet’s suffering as Battle Mountain’s dominance continued. Alex Ortega nearly ended the game, but his shot deflected off the cross bar. Then, with 3:13, Ortega was assessed a yellow card, granting Air Academy a free kick from the 30-yard line. Cody Hotz’s boom hooked left and Alvarez leaped from the goal to punch it away. Cameron Grecco reversed the rebound to Foster, who played it out to Turner Grow at the top of the box. Grow took one touch, set himself and launched the right-footer low and to the left, past the outstretched arms of a diving Alvarez to clinch the win.

While every available metric — and the eye test — may have pointed to Battle Mountain superiority, the final score told a different, gut-wrenching story.

“It’s just the nature of the sport,” Cope said. That unfortunate outcomes are often inexplicable was the life lesson Cope impressed upon his team as the noise of their celebrating opponents bled through the locker room wall.

“I would argue that adversity doesn’t always build character but it certainly reveals character,” he said. “Our boys character was revealed last night and they stood up tall.” 

The No. 3 Kadets (15-1-2) advance to face No. 1 Mullen, which defeated No. 5 Silver Creek 1-0 in the opposite semifinal, in the 4A state championship game on Friday in Colorado Springs.

With 18 career playoff games, four consecutive semifinal appearances and coming a tenth of a second from a third-straight state title game, Cope called this senior class the best in program history in terms of “raw accomplishment.” Above the accolades, however, the head coach of more than 30 years was most impressed with how his group handled the losses throughout a calendar loaded with top 4A and 5A talent.

“This senior group was so resilient and together in all those moments,” he said “It was incredible how many times we came from behind.”

Cope said he plans to come back next year.

“We’ve got a lot of competition within our squad for jobs and competitions,” he said. “Bring it on — we’re ready for August.”