Liz Copan / ecopan@summitdaily.com | Summit Daily News
The Summit High varsity boys soccer team (1-3) rallied on Saturday to a thrilling 5-4 victory, their first of the season, on the road at Palisade.
Down 3-1 at the half, the Tigers seized momentum 90 seconds after the intermission when midfielder Alex Casillas made a run into the box before finishing a scoring opportunity in the bottom left-hand corner of Palisade’s goal to pull the Tigers within 3-2.
Just a few minutes later, the Tigers scored their only set-piece goal of the day when Casillas crossed a corner into a dangerous spot inside Palisade’s box. There, Tigers forward Maschelle Kepple rose up to head the ball into the upper right-hand corner of the net to tie the game at 3-3.
“That was a game changer,” Tigers head coach Tommy Gogolen said. “Maschelle had an absolutely fantastic game.”
Gogolen lauded the Tigers for bouncing back after a first half where he said a couple of simple mistakes put Summit in a hole. After some gameplan adjustments, the Tigers quickly settled down and regained confidence, keeping their composure, moving the ball and playing to the Tigers’ strengths by getting their attack out wide.
Summit then took the lead on a goal from freshman midfielder Owen Gallo before sophomore forward Ranger Stone tacked on a fifth goal from the run of play.
The Tigers also benefited from the return of senior veteran leader Chris Orozco in net, who missed the last couple of games.
Summit will next play on the road 6 p.m. Thursday at Steamboat Springs.
Summit’s next home game at Tiger Stadium at Summit High is scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 3, versus Glenwood Springs at 6 p.m.