Durango High School junior Cedar Newman has been named the 5A/4A Southwestern League’s boys soccer player of the year after his performance on the pitch this season.
Newman scored 12 goals this season, tying him with senior Sam Carozza for the team lead. Newman also scored both of Durango’s goals in the second round of the playoffs against D’Evelyn, propelling the Demons into the quarterfinals. Newman assisted five other goals and had 319 steals on the year.
Carozza, junior Sam Caudle and junior goalie Fred Reiter joined Newman on the SWL’s first team, and senior Ryan Bell and junior Nik Korte made the second team.
Other players landing on the first team include Luiz Aguirre, Matthew Parkes and Mason Sanders of Grand Junction, Quincy Cooling and Adriel Encarnacion of Montrose, Alejandro Jimenez of Grand Junction Central and Harrison Matlock of Fruita Monument.
The second team also includes Victor Fuentes, Angel Mendez and Blake Sturgeon of Grand Junction, Griffin Cunningham and Landon Phillips of Fruita Monument, Alfonso Banuelas and Michael Palma of Grand Junction Central and Montrose players Adriel Huizar-Martinez and Christian Smith-Lucero, the lone sophomore honored.
The Demons finished their season with a 14-2-2 overall record and 6-1-1 league mark, reaching the quarterfinals for only the third time in the program’s history.
