{"id":43460,"date":"2021-11-30T17:14:35","date_gmt":"2021-12-01T00:14:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/zoltowski-named-3a-swl-coach-of-year\/"},"modified":"2021-12-01T00:14:35","modified_gmt":"2021-12-01T00:14:35","slug":"zoltowski-named-3a-swl-coach-of-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/zoltowski-named-3a-swl-coach-of-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Zoltowski named 3A SWL coach of year"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Bayfield's
Bayfield's Guillem \u201cWilly\u201d Roca, a foreign-exchange student from Barcelona, Spain, chases after an unclaimed ball during road action at New Mexico\u2019s Kirtland Central. Roca recently earned a first-team all-league honor for his efforts this season. (Joel Priest\/Special to the Herald)<\/span>Joel Priest\/Special to the Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Though his team\u2019s season didn\u2019t have the ending that had appeared within reach, other 3A Southwest League boys\u2019 soccer bench bosses took notice of Bayfield\u2019s improved play this fall and voted Chris Zoltowski coach of the year.<\/p>\n

The Wolverines finished a runner-up 4-2 in SWL action, but because of a late five-match losing streak, just 6-9 overall. During the slide, which denied the squad a postseason berth, BHS lost three matches by just one goal and another by two before managing a 5-0 season-ending home rout of Alamosa. Bayfield ended up with 35 goals for and 35 against as the program reemerged after going 0-6 SWL, 0-9 overall during the COVID-shortened spring campaign.<\/p>\n

\"Bayfield
Bayfield head coach Chris Zoltowski greets Guillem \u201cWilly\u201d Roca (19) \u2014 plus his host parents Jordan and Sage Frane \u2014 on Senior Day, Oct. 20 inside Wolverine Country Stadium. (Joel Priest\/Special to the Herald)<\/span>Joel Priest\/Special to the Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cIt took months of work, but it\u2019s worth it,\u201d Zoltowski said. \u201cI mean, I\u2019m really happy to be part of the program \u2026 but ultimately the best feeling for me is seeing our soccer family grow, become more united here in Bayfield.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Bayfield's
Bayfield's Shaw Foster splits a Kirtland Central double-team while pushing nearer the opposing Broncos\u2019 goal during road action this season. Foster recently earned first team honors from the 3A Southwest League. (Joel Priest\/Special to the Herald)<\/span>Joel Priest\/Special to the Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cIt feels great to be recognized by the league. But for me, though\u2026it\u2019s (about) the guys,\u201d Zoltowski continued. \u201cThe guys you have and the work they put in; you (a coach) can only do what you do! Those guys, I feel \u2026 deserve (All-League) more than I.\u201d<\/p>\n

Having moved to Bayfield from Yucaipa, California, junior Shaw Foster paired with foreign-exchange senior Guillem \u201cWilly\u201d Roca to create one of the SWL\u2019s most potent 1-2 punches. Both Wolverine newcomers were named first team all-league.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe support each other, we both go for it at the same time, and it just works out \u2026 pretty much,\u201d Foster had said during the season, discussing the rapport he and the Spaniard quickly created during their mutual first season at BHS. \u201cWe\u2019ve both had similar backgrounds in soccer, and just know where each other is on the field.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been really awesome,\u201d said Roca. \u201cI\u2019ve really enjoyed this season \u2026 and think it\u2019s one of the best I\u2019ve ever played.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Willy really brought what \u2018passion\u2019 for the sport truly is,\u201d Zoltowski said. \u201cAnd I think he was able to pass it on to a lot of the players \u2013 you see them now, after the season, continuing to work and continuing to get better.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI would say it\u2019s been since the 2016 team that we\u2019ve had a leader like we have in Shaw,\u201d he added. \u201cStrong \u2026 fast \u2026 physical, and most importantly a leader. When he had the guys in a huddle he talked to them, fired them up before a game, talked to them during a game.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Bayfield's
Bayfield's Andy Monger (10) passes away from a Bloomfield, N.M., pursuer. Monger was one of three Wolverines that earned an honorable mention from the league. (Joel Priest\/Special to the Herald)<\/span>Joel Priest\/Special to the Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Bayfield senior Caleb Donelan was one of three Wolverines receiving all-SWL honorable mention distinction, along with juniors Gavin Larson and Andy Monger.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s a good step into really developing the soccer program,\u201d Donelan said of the season as a whole, knowing most of the roster can return in 2022. \u201cThese guys are all about the same age, and I think it\u2019ll work out well for them in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI might be a little biased but it does feel like I helped a bit, being captain,\u201d he added. \u201cAnd that feels great.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know, they\u2019ve grown a lot,\u201d Zoltowski said. \u201cThey\u2019ve really learned to love the game, and I feel next year they\u2019re going to carry it on, that passion. The team \u2026 they have cohesion and look out for each other \u2013 I\u2019d mentioned at our end-of-season banquet how they\u2019ve inspired me with their commitment towards each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

The league\u2019s player of the year honor went to Kaylor Christians of Pagosa Springs, and goalkeeper of the year went to his teammate, Christopher Young-Martinez. The Pirates fell 6-0 against Peak to Peak in the 3A state tournament\u2019s opening round of 32.<\/p>\n

Additional first-team all-SWL: <\/strong>Pagosa Springs, Ethan Mazur, Gabe Gallegos and Kelton Christians of Pagosa Springs; William Lipke, Rivaldo Francisco and Johnathan Ramirez of Alamosa; Ben Byerly and Trinidad \u201cL.T.\u201c McDonnell of Montezuma-Cortez.<\/p>\n

Additional honorable mentions:<\/strong> Kameron Winkler and Joah Dunn de Pulido of Pagosa Springs and Noah Lederer of Cortez.<\/p>\n

Final 3A Southwest standings:<\/strong> 1. Pagosa Springs (5-1 SWL, 11-5 overall). 2. Bayfield (4-2, 6-9). 3. Montezuma-Cortez (2-4, 3-11), 4. Alamosa (1-5, 2-12).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bayfield\u2019s new upperclassmen make league\u2019s first team<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":43461,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[1871,845,346],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-43460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-bayfield-high-school","tag-soccer","tag-sports"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43460","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43460"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43460\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43461"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43460"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=43460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}