Tegan Whiteskunk was the guy on Saturday.
For the first few games of the season, Montezuma-Cortez head soccer coach Sean Fitzgerald had been rotating Whiteskunk and fellow freshman Davian Robinson in at goalkeeper. But at Johnson Field on Saturday against Crested Butte, Whiteskunk played all 80 minutes in the net.
He was tested early and often, beginning with a strike from Crested Butte junior Dylan Eaton that bounced off the post just two minutes into the contest.
Whiteskunk snagged shots out out the air, scooped up balls on the ground and kept every Titans attempt out for the first 38 minutes. But 39 minutes in, and just before half, Titans sophomore Tommy Linehan snuck one by Whiteskunk as he attempted to come out of the net to secure the ball.
Trailing 1-0 at the break, Fitzgerald emphasized to his team the importance of the first 10 minutes of the second half. He hoped that by pressuring and focusing on playing well early that they would gain some momentum and improve as the game progressed.
But it was Crested Butte that took advantage quickly.
Patrick Siefert struck from the top of the box in the 46th minute to put the Titans up 2-0. And eight minutes later, Jovany Aguirre cruised up the middle through the Panther defense to score Crested Butte’s final goal of the game to take a 3-0 advantage.
Manuel Martinez jetted by the defense in the 76th minute for a breakaway score, assisted by Jesus Ruiz. But the Panthers would go on to drop their second Southwest Soccer League contest, 3-1.
The visiting Titans tallied three scores in the contest, but Whiteskunk finished with 10 saves.
“I thought he had one mistake,” he said. “But how are you going to say that a freshman goalie having one mistake in the whole game is bad? It still goes through ten other guys. We play as one team – eleven guys. You can’t really blame it on him. I thought he played outstanding.”
M-CHS (1-3, 0-2 SWSL) next plays at home on Tuesday against Ridgway.