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Steamboat Springs soccer vs. Palisade

Steamboat Springs — The snow made things slippery and cold, Mac Noel said.

“It was fun but cold. It got slippery, and everyone got cold and lazy, which made it more difficult to play as a team,” said Noel, a senior on the Steamboat Springs High School soccer team.

It may have made players slow, but it did little to stop Steamboat, which rolled by Palisade, 5-0, on Saturday in Steamboat Springs.

Steamboat got a pair of goals from Noel, two assists and a goal from John Vande Velde and no scare from the visiting Bulldogs.

The Sailors scored early with Vande Velde plugging one home just two minutes into the game. And they scored often with Noel’s two goals coming within four minutes of each other.

In the end, it amounted to the perfect kind of tuneup for a team eyeing one of the biggest games of its season Thursday.

“We played really well as a team, connecting passes and putting in the goals when we needed to,” Noel said. “If we can keep it up, the season should end good for us.”

With Saturday’s win, Steamboat improved its season record to 9-1-1, and it maintained its lead in the Western Slope League. That advantage could disappear in a hurry, however, when the squad visits second-place Battle Mountain on Thursday.

“We got out of that game as much as we could,” Sailors coach Rob Bohlmann said. “We played a good 80 minutes.”

On Saturday, the Sailors got goals from senior Tommy Lyon, who stole a pass near the Bulldogs goal and quickly turned it into a 4-0 Steamboat lead, and Peter White, who scored the game’s only second-half goal.

“At this point, it’s just about trying to stay sharp and improving our level of play on the big picture,” Bohlmann said. “We don’t feel like we have any exposed weakness we need to focus on. It’s about keeping things sharp, working hard, and we did that.”

— To reach Joel Reichenberger, call 970-871-4253 or email jreichenberger@SteamboatToday.com