In the early stages of the season, Manitou Springs boys soccer coach Ben Mack identified Vanguard as one of the tougher teams that his Mustangs would face this year.
That statement held true as the Coursers became the first team to get the better of the Mustangs in a 3-2 game on Sept. 8 at Richardson Field.
“I was happy with it,” Mack said. “Coming in, we knew they would be good and they were. We knew it was going to be a close game and it was. What I was most impressed about was that we battled back twice.”
The Coursers jumped ahead of the Mustangs (4-2 overall) on two occasions, but Manitou showed grit and was able to pull even, thanks to goals from Gavin Smith and Evan Yount. Vanguard added a third goal in the second half of the game, but the Mustangs couldn’t find an equalizer for that one.
The loss snapped the Mustangs’ four-game winning streak, but served as a good learning tool to apply as they look to make improvements through the regular season.
“Coming back is huge, especially in soccer,” Smith said. “Every goal brings momentum towards you and, if we had come out on top, that would’ve been awesome. But now that we know we can battle back, it shows in more important games that we can come out and win.”
They faced another tough game on Sept. 13 as they took on Thomas MacLaren, the top-ranked team in this week’s CHSAANow.com poll.
The Mustangs lost that game 3-0 and Mack thinks this stretch of games will truly prepare the Mustangs for the most crucial matchups they’ll see at the end of the season.
“That resiliency piece, we’re going to figure out how to win those close ones or we’re not,” Mack said. “I know we’re going to put up a dogfight in these next few games and how we bounce back will tell us a lot.”