Eagle Valley came into Tuesday night's rivalry boys soccer game against Battle Mountain having scored 28 goals in its last three games, all wins. With 16:45 left in the first half -- and the Devils doing most of the cooking early on -- Gabriel Sarellano's huge breakaway had the hosts on the doorstep of No. 29.

"Honestly, I think they came out with more intensity than we did," admitted Battle Mountain defender Alex Ortega, who channeled his inner Usain Bolt to track down Sarellano and make what ended up being a game-changing slide tackle.

"The only thing running through my mind was, imagine changing that -- from 10, 10, 8 to zero," he said, referring to the Devils last three offensive outputs followed by their total tally on Tuesday. "And on that breakaway I was just like, 'please, catch up to him. I can't let him score.'"

"That would have changed the game completely," Ortega's teammate Jakob Methvin said of the play. Methvin fueled Battle Mountain to a 4-0 win with his third hat trick of the season. The Huskies weathered early attacks from a feisty Devils squad and was able to silence the loud, full student section with a flurry of opportunistic second-half goals.

"I felt like if we could withstand some early pressure and didn't concede early and play our way into the game, I felt like our fitness would show," commented Battle Mountain head coach Dave Cope.

"We really stepped it up in the second half," Methvin added. "Eagle Valley was playing great in that first half. A lot of intensity. A little more, I think, than we were ready for."

But the Devils couldn't make the most of their shots on goal. Brandon Tecla's left-footer flew wide in the 31st minute. Angel Torres had a great look from the top of the box in the first four minutes of the second, but sailed it high and off the football goalpost. Sometimes they dribbled in too deep and other times they settled from too far away.

"We have moments of brilliance, but we have a lot to improve," said head coach Bratzo Horruitiner. "We need to get better on touching the ball and controlling the ball. We're growing. We're learning."

Methvin scored the game's first goal, a grounder off the right foot from 23 yards out with 7:51 to go. The muscular striker shielded two defenders off his hip pocket and drove the ball to the left post past Eagle Valley goalie Tiago Horruitiner. Then he toyed with the student section, cupping his hand around his ear.

"The student section was loud," Methvin said with a smile.

Eight minutes into the second, Methvin launched a corner kick to Carlos Ventura at the top of the box. Ventura dished the ball five feet to his left, where Xavi Velles finished to make it 3-0.

"He's having a great season," Cope said of the Velles, whom he called a true "program guy." After spending his first two years on junior varsity, the defender missed most of last year with an injury.

"He's just making the most of his senior year," Cope continued before crediting the rest of the defense for a second-straight shutout. "(Goalie) Anthony (Raudales) is really proving he deserves the shirt and we have a great goalkeeper trainer in Jim Glendining and all three of our keepers are really playing well right now."

Methvin's third goal was more a statement than simply a score. After a filthy dribbling demonstration in which he deked through a couple defenders and faked out the goalie, Methvin tapped the ball into an empty net from an inch out. The senior then sprinted to the sidelines, ripping off his jersey in celebration.

"It just kind of came out," he said. "I was the one who scored, but I couldn't have done it without my team. They were the ones who got me the ball. They made the runs, they opened it up for me."

"That's what great players do: they seize their moments," Cope said. "And it's harder than he makes it look."

After a tough start against Denver East and a 7-2 loss to Northfield, Battle Mountain is now on a 4-game winning streak. Ortega said even in defeat, his team gleaned a few things from its 5A opponents.

"We try to learn from our mistakes from Denver East and Northfield and improve on that," he said. "We're trying to work better as team -- attack more as a team and get back and defend as a team better."

Reflecting on the loss, Horruitiner couldn't pin down a particular turning point.

"I think the mistakes came in the midfield by not talking, not allowing our midfielders to turn. They capitalized," he said. "Besides that, we were doing our game. We were playing our style, creating chances. We had posts, we had multiple chances. ... It was a fun game and those guys were efficient. That was the difference: you punch when you have to punch, and they did."

Eagle Valley (4-2-1) is off until Sept. 20 when they travel to Valor Christian. The Huskies are back in action against Evergreen on Thursday. The rivalry rematch is Oct. 3 in Edwards.

"We're going to go and try and challenge them again," Horruitiner stated. "We have to get something back."