FORT COLLINS — On a day when the muscles weren’t exactly firing on all cylinders, Fossil Ridge’s Hunter Robinson got his day jump-started just in time.
The junior midfielder had what seemed like an eternity to settle a ball in the corner of the box at his feet and then fire what would be the game-winning goal for the SaberCats on a cold, windy and extremely wet Saturday.
With the 3-1 victory over Legacy, Fossil Ridge improved to 6-2-1 overall and 5-0 in the wildly competitive Front Range League that includes ranked teams such as Fort Collins, Fairview and Horizon.
“It’s one game at a time,” Fossil coach Robb Ball said. “We’ll see what we are made of on Tuesday (against No. 3 Fort Collins) and then again on Thursday with (No. 4) Fairview, and Saturday is Boulder. It’s simple: One game at a time, go out there and work every minute.”
Legacy drops to 7-3-1 and 3-2-1 in league play.
With rain pouring down at times, the SaberCats tried as best they could to play a simple game of maintaining possession on the ground and taking advantage of the few chances they knew they were going to get against the stout Lightning defense.
With the game knotted at 1-1 — after a goal by Legacy’s Tanor Rainwater — Fossil Ridge regained composure and took the lead for good with two minutes left in the first half.
Adam Blair’s cross to Robinson was right on the money, but Robinson didn’t react immediately.
“It was mostly just my muscles and trying to get ready to shoot,” said Robinson, who called it the worst conditions he had played in. “I was trying to push myself to even make a swing at the ball.”
Robinson assisted on the game’s final tally, a well-placed corner kick to the head of Jake Nelson, who beat Lightning goalie Garrett Hernandez.
Said Rainwater: “I got us that goal and I thought it would give us some momentum, but it was really hard to keep going with everything that was going on.”
Jon E. Yunt: 303-954-1354 or jyunt@denverpost.com
Legacy: 1 – 0 — 1
Fossil Ridge: 2 – 1 — 3
FR: Sofias (unassisted), 16th minute
L: Rainwater (Mooney), 18th
FR: Robinson (Blair), 38th
FR: Nelson (Robinson), 42nd
Shots on goal — Legacy 1-2 — 3; Fossil Ridge 2-1 — 3. Saves — Legacy (Hernandez) 0-0 — 0; Fossil Ridge (King) 0-2 — 2. Corner kicks — Legacy 2-1 — 3; Fossil Ridge 2-1 — 3. Fouls — Legacy 5-0 — 5; Fossil Ridge 5-5 — 10.
