Glenwood Springs — Plenty of scoring opportunities were available for the Glenwood Springs High School boys soccer team against Steamboat Springs on Tuesday. The Sailors made sure to take advantage of theirs.

Will Peterson put the Sailors ahead to stay with his pinball-type goal in the 44th minute, and the Sailors held on for a 2-1 Class 4A Western Slope League victory despite numerous scoring chances down the stretch by the Demons.

“We had a lot of chances,” first-year Glenwood coach Wayne Smith said. “When the ball doesn’t go in the net on those chances, you’re not going to come away with a win. But I am happy with the effort the guys put out, because this is a good team that we just played against.”

That historically has been the case for the Sailors (2-0-0 overall and league play), who have been a consistent contender in the league in the two-plus decades coach Rob Bohlmann has been in charge of the program. They’re off to a start that makes them look like contenders again, and they prevailed despite a tenacious offensive attack by the Demons.

Steamboat’s ability to counter with an equally aggressive attack proved to be the difference in helping them rally from an early 1-0 deficit, which turned out to be the Sailors’ primary strategy thanks to the kind of field conditions at Stubler Memorial Field.

“The ball plays a little heavier and a little slower here, so it’s difficult to really find your rhythm here,” said Bohlmann, whose team plays on a FieldTurf surface compared to the tall grass at Stubler. “We really felt like, for us, the best thing for us to do was to create a point of attack and create opportunities to try to get behind them.”

Glenwood junior Cameron Horning scored in the 10th minute to give the Demons (1-3-0 overall, 0-3-0 league) a 1-0 lead, which held up until an unassisted goal from senior Charlie Beurskens’ goal from the right side to the far post knotted the score at 1-1 headed into halftime. The Sailors took the lead for good on the goal from Peterson, which came on a rebound following several attempts by Glenwood’s defensive back line to clear the ball.

Glenwood’s best chance came in the 50th minute when Horning rushed the net from the left side of the field. Steamboat was able to knock the ball away from Horning, and it left an empty net chance for the Demons’ Elias Vasquez. His shot sailed above the net, however, and Steamboat goalkeeper Jake Anderson turned away two more rushes on the net by Horning to help the Sailors retain the lead.

Meanwhile, Glenwood goalie Ryan Nott finished with six saves — three of them coming in a 30-second span in the first half where he made a pair of diving stops to keep the game tied.

“Ryan’s performance kept us in the game tonight,” Smith said.

Steamboat continues league play at Delta on Saturday. Glenwood will try to rebound on Thursday night when it hosts Battle Mountain.