The Durango boys soccer team started its Southwestern League season by shutting out Grand Junction Central on Tuesday, 4-0.
“It was a tough day on the road with temps in the mid-90s against a much-improved Central team that was undefeated going into today,” said DHS head coach Aaron Champenoy. “We controlled the majority of the game with possession and chances. Unfortunately, we weren’t clinical enough with our 35 shots.”
Sam Carozza, however, found the back of the net three times for Durango to get a hat trick in the win. Carozza scored in the 10th minute, the 39th minute and the 42nd minute to give DHS a 3-0 lead.
Later in the second half, Cedar Newman scored one for DHS.
Ryan Bell, Owen Carozza and Niko Korte all assisted goals for Durango.
The coach DHS goalie Fred Reiter said made “one very good save in the first half” to get his second consecutive shutout. He also credited Central’s goalie for keeping the game close for a while.
With the win, DHS improves to 5-0-1 overall and 1-0-0 in the SWL. Central slipped to 3-1-0 and 0-1-0.
Next, Durango will host Aztec (3-5-1) at 6 p.m. on Thursday.
The Bayfield boys soccer and volleyball teams also were in action Tuesday, and both won their contests.
The BHS soccer team scored a 5-1 win over New Mexico’s Kirtland Central. The game was tied 1-1 at halftime, but the Wolverines came out firing in the second half to pull away.
The win was Bayfield’s first of the year. The team is now 1-2 while Kirtland slipped to 1-7.
The Bayfield volleyball team, meanwhile, beat Montezuma-Cortez, 3-0. BHS won the sets 25-20, 25-14 and, after trailing 9-3, 25-23 to give Cortez its first loss of the season. BHS is now 4-2 overall, and Cortez slipped to 4-1.
The soccer team will next host Cortez on Friday, and the volleyball team will travel to Pagosa Springs next Tuesday.
