3A boys soccer: Sheridan halts Basalt’s streak
The Aspen Times
The Longhorns’ extended streak finally ended.
The Basalt High School boys soccer team, on a run of 10 consecutive matches without a loss, dropped a hard-fought 3-2 decision to Sheridan on Friday in the first round of the state playoffs at Kent Denver High School.
The Longhorns, who had finished as the No. 2 team in the Western Slope League, earned a No. 16 seed and match against No. 17 Sheridan with a matching records of 8-5-2.
Daniel Urritia of Sheridan had a hat trick against the Longhorns, including a controversial first goal that came after the Longhorns stopped play when the ball appeared to be out of bounds.
But the ball was live, and Urritia converted the first of his three goals.
“The capitalized; they kept playing,” Basalt head coach Brett Hayes said. “We stopped; it was an unfortunate situation.”
But the Longhorns answered with a tying goal from Elmer Bonilla.
A Daniel Arroyos goal for Basalt evened the score at 2-2.
The last Sheridan goal came after the Longhorns could not clear the ball after a goal kick.
“To their credit, they capitalized on our mistakes,” Hayes said, adding that the loss had a special sting because the Longhorns felt like they should have won the match.
“I feel bad for the boys. It’s a shame we couldn’t pull it out,” Hayes said, adding that the Longhorns worked especially hard to improve as they did during the season, which ended 8-6-2 for the Longhorns.
The season also included one of the longest streaks without a loss in Basalt prep soccer history.
Sheridan improved to 9-5-2 with a second-round date against Kent Denver, a 2-0 winner over Aspen in the first round.
