{"id":1314883,"date":"2019-09-21T14:12:00","date_gmt":"2019-09-21T20:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/mullen-strikes-early-holds-on-for-3-0-win-over-coal-ridge\/"},"modified":"2019-09-21T14:12:00","modified_gmt":"2019-09-21T20:12:00","slug":"mullen-strikes-early-holds-on-for-3-0-win-over-coal-ridge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/mullen-strikes-early-holds-on-for-3-0-win-over-coal-ridge\/","title":{"rendered":"Mullen strikes early, holds on for 3-0 win over Coal Ridge"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"swift-gallery p402_hide\" readability=\"6.6623376623377\">\n<ul id=\"imageGallery-988016-595\" class=\"gallery list-unstyled\">\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/09\/CRMullensoc-GPI-092219-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/09\/CRMullensoc-GPI-092219.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Josh Carney \/ Post Independent | Coal Ridge senior Landon Stickler battles for possession with Mullen's Cole Dempsey in the second half in New Castle.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-1.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"8\">\n<p><strong>Coal Ridge senior Landon Stickler battles for possession with Mullen&#8217;s Cole Dempsey in the second half in New Castle.<\/strong><br \/>Josh Carney \/ Post Independent<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/09\/CRMullensoc-GPI-092219.jpg\" alt=\"Coal Ridge senior Landon Stickler battles for possession with Mullen's Cole Dempsey in the second half in New Castle.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/09\/CRMullensoc-GPI-092219-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/09\/CRMullensoc-GPI-092219-1.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Josh Carney \/ Post Independent | Coal Ridge senior Landon Stickler passes the ball back to a teammate during Saturday's game against Mullen in New Castle. Coal Ridge fell to Mullen 3-0.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-1.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"8\">\n<p><strong>Coal Ridge senior Landon Stickler passes the ball back to a teammate during Saturday&#8217;s game against Mullen in New Castle. Coal Ridge fell to Mullen 3-0.<\/strong><br \/>Josh Carney \/ Post Independent<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/09\/CRMullensoc-GPI-092219-1.jpg\" alt=\"Coal Ridge senior Landon Stickler passes the ball back to a teammate during Saturday's game against Mullen in New Castle. Coal Ridge fell to Mullen 3-0.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/09\/CRMullensoc-GPI-092219-2-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/09\/CRMullensoc-GPI-092219-2.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Josh Carney \/ Post Independent | Coal Ridge junior Jack Price tries to play a ball past Mullen captain Luke Elges Saturday in New Castle, as frsehman teammate James Webber looks on.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-1\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"9\">\n<p><strong>Coal Ridge junior Jack Price tries to play a ball past Mullen captain Luke Elges Saturday in New Castle, as frsehman teammate James Webber looks on.<\/strong><br \/>Josh Carney \/ Post Independent<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/09\/CRMullensoc-GPI-092219-2.jpg\" alt=\"Coal Ridge junior Jack Price tries to play a ball past Mullen captain Luke Elges Saturday in New Castle, as frsehman teammate James Webber looks on.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"caption-toggle\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/sports\/mullen-strikes-early-holds-on-for-3-0-win-over-coal-ridge\/#\" class=\"show-captions\">Show Captions<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/sports\/mullen-strikes-early-holds-on-for-3-0-win-over-coal-ridge\/#\" class=\"hide-captions\">Hide Captions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Aside from a rough first 10 minutes that saw the Mullen Mustangs strike for 3 goals Saturday morning in New Castle, the Coal Ridge Titans boys soccer team hung tough with the 5A powerhouse, keeping them off the scoreboard for the next 70 minutes in a 3-0 loss that wrapped up a tough 3-day stretch for the 3A Titans.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Mullen scored on a corner kick, a set play, and a cross into the box in the first 10 minutes, putting the Titans on their heels, but the young Coal Ridge squad didn\u2019t buckle and continued to fight throughout the day, led by standout junior goalkeeper Cody Connor, who turned away the Mustangs time and time again in the second half, coming up with a number of large diving saves to keep the Titans in the thick of it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Last season the Titans dropped a 5-0 decision to Mullen on the road, but this year, thanks to Connor\u2019s stellar play in net, it was a different game.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cCody\u2019s been starting since he was a freshman, and that maturity over the years has helped him make smarter decisions,\u201d Michael Mikalakis, Coal Ridge\u2019s veteran head coach, said after the loss. \u201cHe\u2019s making smarter decisions overall, and he\u2019s playing with his defense, because that communication is helping him with that success in goal. I can\u2019t underestimate the impact he\u2019s had on this team. He\u2019s an unbelievable keeper; he\u2019s tall, athletic, and he definitely does keep us in games. We\u2019re super lucky to have a goalkeeper like him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Despite Connor\u2019s strong play in goal, the Titans really couldn\u2019t muster many chances offensively throughout the day due to the absence of senior striker Ivan Gallardo, and the speed and physicality of Mullen\u2019s back line, led by captain Luke Elges, who turned away any chance the Titans tried to mount.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">As Mullen struck early, the Titans showed a lot of maturity in settling down early and refusing to fold against the 5A power.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Junior Moises Contreras and freshman James Webber tried to put together some runs against the Mustangs, but the touches just weren\u2019t there on the afternoon.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Trailing 3-0, the game turned into a battle at midfield for stretches, where senior Landon Stickler, junior Jack Price, sophomore Tony Ayala, and sophomore Colton Conner fought to slow the Mullen attack, while Coal Ridge\u2019s back line of senior Dominic Centeno, senior JP Gallardo, freshman Caleb Thompson, and senior Jorge Pena turned away some strong Mullen attacks.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWe have a tough schedule, I think tougher than a lot of people,\u201d Mikalakis said. \u201cOur kids got a chance to see what it takes to play at this level. Barring that first 10 minutes, we rose to the occasion to play today. We were able to see where we needed to be, and we transitioned to that. These kids are competitors; we\u2019ll get there. I feel like we\u2019re in a good place to make a good run the rest of the season. Everybody has their opportunities, and we\u2019re building towards ours.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Coming out of the halftime break down 3-0, the Titans continued to battle against the Mustangs, but they just couldn\u2019t find that one real offensive chance they needed to really get back into the game.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">With about 5 minutes left, Contreras had the best chance of the day for the Titans, firing a shot from the right wing that skimmed just off the top of the crossbar that the Mullen goalkeeper didn\u2019t have much of a shot getting to.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The loss wraps up a hard 3-day stretch that saw the Titans fall to 3A power Salida on the road Thursday, 3-0, get back into town late Thursday night, and then turn around for a 10 a.m. kickoff Saturday against the Mustangs. The back-to-back losses can be tough on the Titans in the overall state standings, but Coal Ridge is using the losses as a chance to improve and build towards competing for a league championship in the tough 3A Western Slope League.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWe have a lot of kids with grit, more so than teams I\u2019ve had in the past,\u201d Mikalakis said. \u201cWe\u2019re down 3-0 in the first 10 minutes, and our kids just didn\u2019t quit; we didn\u2019t stop. There wasn\u2019t a single player in this group that quit out on that pitch. So, outside of those 10 minutes, it\u2019s a 0-0 game because our kids didn\u2019t want it to get any more than that. They played their hearts out; they have grit and determination. I think that\u2019s going to take them to success, hopefully sooner rather than later.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The Titans get a much-needed week off before returning to action Saturday, Sept. 28 on the road against Ridgway in the final non-league game before 3A WSL play picks up in the season\u2019s final month.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Tagline\"><a href=\"mailto:jcarney@postindependent.com\">jcarney@postindependent.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/sports\/mullen-strikes-early-holds-on-for-3-0-win-over-coal-ridge\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: Post Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Coal Ridge senior Landon Stickler battles for possession with Mullen&#8217;s Cole Dempsey in the second half in New Castle.Josh Carney \/ Post Independent Coal Ridge senior Landon Stickler passes the ball back to a teammate during Saturday&#8217;s game against Mullen in New Castle. Coal Ridge fell to Mullen 3-0.Josh Carney \/ Post Independent Coal Ridge [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1314883","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-27 19:39:34","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1314883","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1314883"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1314883\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1314883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1314883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1314883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}