The refrain beat steadily Friday, much like a bass drum – Grand Junction goal, Grand Junction goal, Grand Junction goal.

Durango High School’s girls lacrosse team couldn’t match or find its own tempo in a 17-2 loss to the Tigers at home. Grand Junction (4-2, 3-1 Mountain League) scored its first goal 2 minutes, 53 seconds into the game.

The Tigers’ second came 2:47 after that and the third 31 seconds later, and they built a 5-0 lead in the game’s first 13 minutes.

DHS senior Payton Randle stopped some of the bleeding with a goal with 9:11 remaining in the first half.

“We definitely pushed ourselves and tried to keep up,” said Randle, daughter of Erin and John Randle. “Our hustle was decent, but we kind of slacked a little on the groundballs.”

She scored the Demons’ other goal with 11:35 remaining in the game, but the Tigers had it well in hand at that point. Grand Junction senior Halle Harrison had a lot to do with it. She scored six goals and picked up a hat trick over a 4:17 stretch in the first half.

“I’ve played for a while, so I’ve figured out the best spots on the field,” Harrison said. “My team does a good job pulling their defenders away to leave me open.”

Some of Durango’s defensive struggles can be attributed to adapting to a new defensive scheme.

“It’s hard to change something up in the middle of the season,” DHS head coach Katie deButts said.

DHS goalie Dyno Shilaikis made 15 saves in the cage.

Grand Junction’s goals came in bunches. The Tigers scored six in a row to start the game, then seven after Randle’s first goal and four to close it out after her second.

“No comment,” deButts said of her team’s intensity after giving up so many goals early.

DHS (2-2, 1-2 ML) won’t have much time to dwell on the loss. The Demons host No. 9 Fruita Monument at 11 a.m. Saturday.

“We’re definitely going to put this behind us and come out harder than we did (Friday),” Randle said. “Fight to the end.”

kgrabowski@durangoherald.com