DENVER — The quest for Fort Lupton’s perfect soccer season is by the boards, courtesy of Montbello High School.
    Three goals in the second half gave the Warriors a 4-1 win Thursday afternoon.
    “The second half was something we can build off of,” said FLHS coach Archie Suniga. “They calmed down a little bit. The communication was better. The passing was better. We had opportunities. We didn’t get them on frame quick enough.”

    Irvin Garcia scored Fort Lupton’s goal in the first half. Hugo Sanchez drew the assist after the ball bounced off his knee. Garcia controlled the ball with his knee and then put the ball in the back of the net.
    “We expected a lot more after our practices,” he said. “But it didn’t work out in this game. This wasn’t a league game. If we’d won it, we would have had a better spot in the playoffs.”
    “We scored off a set play, and that’s what we want to do,” Suniga said. “We want to get as many goals off corner kicks and dead-ball situations as we can.”
    Garcia, who is a junior midfielder, said the Bluedevils were a little nervous at the start.
    “We did way better in the second half. In the first half, we didn’t have control of the ball at all,” he said. “They dictated the first half. We need to get the ball to the foot. What we were doing was paying kickball. We had no ball control in the air. We need to work a lot on our passes. We were giving them too much space. We were marking up, but we weren’t as close as we wanted to be.”
    Montbello’s Uli Rangel scored his team’s first three goals, then had to leave the game with a knee injury.
    “We may be tweaking the lineup here and there,” Suniga said. “I saw some pieces that fit better in certain areas.”
    
Contact Sports Editor Steve Smith
at 303-659-2522, ext. 224, or ssmith@metrowestnewspapers.com.