The Durango High School girls lacrosse team simply wanted a win in the season finale on senior night for two beloved players.
Down 7-1 a halftime, it looked bleak. But a gusty Demons team rallied all the way back to take a 9-8 win in overtime Wednesday to finish the season with a 4-4 record and avenge an earlier 13-4 loss to the same Telluride team.
“This was the last game for Allie Elliott and Madeline ‘Goose’ Kothe, and they wanted to have their game be a win in front of friends and family,” DHS head coach Eric Elliott said. “The entire team made sure it happened for the two senior captains. These girls played their hearts out and, without a doubt, left it all on the field.”
The Demons dug deep in the second half to erase the big deficit against visiting Telluride only one day after a heartbreaking 12-9 loss at Grand Junction. Three quick goals from freshman Annabel Carithers and Pear Burbey to start the second half got DHS right back in the game.
Out of a timeout, the Miners would find an eighth goal to go back up 8-4, but the Demons were far from finished. DHS coach Elliott called a timeout of his own to talk about defense. After that timeout, Telluride never scored again in the match.
DHS would tie the game with less than two minutes to play. In the overtime, Allie Elliott assisted Carithers for the game-winning goal.
Burbey and Carithers each finished with three goals, while Allie Elliott had one goal and two assists. Olivia Rome also scored for DHS.
Victoria Barletta and Alexia Wold led DHS with six ground balls each, while Kothe got the win in goal in her final game as a Demon.
“With such a young team, we couldn’t be happier in how the underclassmen performed,” coach Elliott said. “They rose to the occasion time and time again all season long. We are excited to end the season on a high note and bring this sport into next season.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
