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Glenwood’s Tapia named Western Slope 4A Player of the year

Jeff Caspersen
jcaspersen@postindependent.com
Post Independent
Glenwood Springs, CO Colorado
Chad Spangler Post Independent
ALL |

Fabian Tapia doesn’t like the spotlight all that much, but that doesn’t stop the spotlight from finding him.

Behind a season that saw him churn out 13 goals and distribute 10 assists, the senior midfielder for the Glenwood Springs boys soccer team received the ultimate honor from coaches in the 4A Western Slope League.

They named him the circuit’s player of the year.



It’s an honor that Demons coach John Mount, who was named 4A WSL coach of the year, credits as much to Tapia’s character as to his stats.

“It’s just his love for the game,” said the second-year Glenwood frontman, who coached the Demons to a 12-4-1 overall record and second-place league finish. “He practices every day with the ball. His enthusiasm is just contagious with the other players on the team. Players want to try whatever new trick he’s working on. He just likes to have fun with the sport and he likes to help the other players out.”



Tapia lettered in each of his four years with the Glenwood Springs program and is looking to continue his soccer career at the collegiate level.

“He’s hoping to go somewhere,” Mount said. “We have a couple schools looking at him right now.”

Tapia had Demon company on the All-4A WSL first team in senior goalkeeper Kurt Hartmann and senior defender Ryan Young. Junior forwards Travis Whitman and Sydney Van Horn landed honorable-mention selections.

Young and Whitman scored 11 goals apiece in 2008, while Van Horn chipped in with 10 goals and Hartmann posted a 1.29 goals-against average.

Those are just a few of the Demons Mount credits with landing him the league’s top coaching honors.

“That’s just a tribute to the team,” he said, “and really, I think, just the growth the team has been able to have. As a team, we just really jelled this year. It was just a fun experience. It didn’t seem like work.”

With 12 seniors returning in 2009, Mount’s optimistic about the team staying jelled in the near future.

“We’re looking good for next year,” he said.

Rifle landed a first-team All-4A WSL selection in senior midfielder Pablo Salgado and a pair of honorable-mention picks in senior midfielder Ricardo Salgado, Pablo’s brother, and senior utility man Kyle Zumbrennan, who played virtually every position short of keeper for the Bears.


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