The Durango High School boys soccer team hopes its postseason jitters are out of the way after last week’s first-round game against Steamboat Springs in the Colorado High School Activities Association Class 4A Boys Soccer Championships.
Demons’ head coach Aaron Champenoy said he wants his team to get off to a better start in its second-round matchup against No. 20 Glenwood Springs on Tuesday at DHS.
“I kind of gave them a hard time just lightheartedly about that start,” Champenoy said of his team’s first-half performance last week. “Hopefully, we can come out with a little bit better of a start than we did in the last one.
“But I reminded the guys to forget about that game, and the last time we played Glenwood Springs, which was our first game of the year. It’s been a long time, both teams are far different teams, and we need to go out there and just play with something to prove.”
Durango (14-1-1, 6-1-1 5A/4A Southwestern League) opened the playoffs last week against the Sailors and went down a goal in the game’s opening 10 minutes, but the Demons rebounded in a big way to pick up a 4-2 win. It was an eerily similar start to Durango’s opening game of the season against Glenwood Springs in August. GSHS took a 1-0 first-half lead in Champenoy’s first game as head coach, but the Demons recovered to win 3-1.
Glenwood Springs (11-4-1, 9-2-1 4A Western Slope Conference) has a 1-2 punch in senior midfielder Leo Mireles, who has tallied 13 goals and 17 assists, and junior forward German Alvarado, who has found the back of the net 15 times this season, including in the season-opener against Durango. Additionally, GSHS’s four regular season losses were by a combined eight goals, and all four teams made the playoffs: DHS, Steamboat Springs, Montrose and Battle Mountain.
“They’re going to be a very good team, and they’ve got two guys who have scored the majority of their goals, and to their credit, I think (Glenwood Springs has) scored 67 goals on the year, so a few more than us,” Champenoy said. “Hopefully, we can take those two players out of the game, but it will take a good effort to do so.”
Last week against the Sailors, Durango got back into the match through set pieces and was able to control possession in the second half after the offense found its form. Champenoy said attention to detail against Glenwood Springs will have to be just as sharp as it was in the second half against Steamboat Springs.
“I’m a firm believer in doing the basics and doing the basics right,” Champenoy said. “I think we’re not going to focus on the end result. We need to focus on all the little things getting us there. We need to win all the small battles and all the small details of the game. If we do that, the big result will take care of itself.”
Durango kicks off against Glenwood Springs at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Durango High School.
