NHS soccer wins one game but loses another

The Niwot Cougars boys soccer team beat the Skyline Falcons at a home conference game on Tuesday, September 6 in double overtime with a final score of 3-2.

Niwot’s scoring came from junior Jason Rodriguez, who scored two goals, and junior Dylan Campbell, who had one goal.

“Every game we’ve had this season has been a close game,” Head Coach Stephen Dimit said. “It seems like every game is just coming down to the wire. But it’s good for the guys to help prepare better for later.”

Although seniors Alex Arnold and Brian Oates didn’t score any goals themselves they were both instrumental in helping Niwot win the game, with Arnold have two assists and Oates having one.

“We just had some guys step up big,” Dimit said of his players. “Our defense is getting better and better. Alex Arnold and Jason Rodriguez really brought the offense. Alex had two assists Jason had two goals, so both of them were big time.”

Tending the goal for 90 minutes was Mario Munoz who allowed two goals for the Falcons but made five other saves. Dimit said Munoz has been an asset to the team with his strong soccer skills.

“He’s young, just a sophomore, but he’s got such focus when it comes to game time,” Dimit said of Munoz. “He’s good for a couple incredible saves every game. He’s playing older than he is right now, that’s probably the best way to describe it. We’ve got a really strong group of goalkeepers across the whole program, so for him to rise to the top is pretty impressive.”

The first half of the game ended with Niwot up 2-1, but Skyline came back to tie the game in the second half, sending the teams into the first overtime, which was scoreless.

In a second overtime however, Niwot scored the last goal ending the game with a score of 3-2 for the Cougars, making it the third game they’ve won so far this season.

“I think we’re feeling better and better,” Dimit said. “We’ve made some mistakes here and there. Over the last four games it’s been a process of trying to reduce the mistakes, so they’re flying high and they’re certainly not feeling bad about it either. They’re just focused on getting better every game.”

Niwot traveled to Monument on Saturday, September 10 to play Lewis Palmer, a team that Dimit said made for some tough competition.

“It’s really good for the guys to see a different style,” Dimit explained. “Lewis Palmer’s a team that goes to playoffs pretty much every year. They play the best of the best so it was good to play them. Even though we didn’t get the win I was really happy with how the guys performed.”

Dimit said the main thing the team’s working on after that game, which ended in a 1-0 loss for Niwot, is its defensive performance and not giving up as many goals.

“Defensively we’re a little bit rocky at the beginning,” Dimit said of the team. “We gave up two goals against Skyline and [Saturday], even though we lost we only gave up one goal. So we’ve been working on just locking it down defensively and I’d say every single game it’s been looking a whole lot better. We’re reducing those mistakes and it’s starting to look pretty solid.”

“As long as we continue to play that type of defensive game, we’re going to be looking pretty good this season,” he added.

Two players stood out to Dimit at the team’s game against Lewis Palmer, juniors Luis Perez and Andres Montealegre.

“We had a player come off the bench yesterday, Luis Perez, and he played a phenomenal game,” Dimit said. “He has great ball control and we were on an artificial turf field, which these guys aren’t used to, so we leaned on him and a few of the other guys a lot to kind of take control.”

“Andres Montealegre had a great week as well, he continued. “He’s really one of our most talented guys. “Keep an eye on him.”

Even with a loss, Dimit was proud of how his team played and the fact that they only allowed one goal to Lewis Palmer, which wasn’t an easy goal for the other team.

“It was a very defensive game,” Dimit said. “It was just going to be one goal, but we made them work for it. There were a couple late calls I didn’t really agree with at the end of the game, but that’s okay. The only thing at this point is the end result, the guys played great.”

Niwot plays Peak to Peak at home on Tuesday, September 13 at 4 p.m., followed by an away game against Green Mountain High School on Saturday, September 17 at 11 a.m.