The Durango High School girls soccer team took on Fruita Monument on Friday in Grand Junction with first place in the 4A/5A Southwestern League on the line.
Fruita scored on a pair of set pieces in the first half to go up, 2-0.
Five minutes into the second half, Sarah Somrak cut the lead in half for Durango when she got the ball high in the attacking third and buried a shot in the near-post corner.
The score stayed that way until the Demons stepped up their attack late.
Mason Rowland had a breakaway opportunity to tie the game with about seven minutes left. A Fruita player, however, took Rowland out just outside of the box. The Wildcat received a yellow card, but Rowland was hurt on the play and unable to return.
“She’s a big one to lose,” said DHS head coach Melissa Halonen. Durango was also without Emy Mattox, who’s recovering from a concussion.
With Rowland sidelined, Durango continued to attack, but the Wildcats were able to counter attack and score twice more in the final five minutes of the game.
“We were trying to get the tying goal and gave up a couple at the end,” Halonen said. “It was a good game, and it went back and forth all game long. It’s tough losing 4-1 because it wasn’t a 4-1 game.”
The coach, however, said she’d rather lose one now while the team has time to learn from it rather than in the first round of the playoffs because they hadn’t been tested.
“I’m proud of how they played; we hung with them,” Halonen said. “It’s hard to play the games we’ve played and all of a sudden be at this level.”
And DHS will get another shot at the Wildcats. Durango will conclude its regular season by hosting Fruita on May 6 at Riverview Field.
Durango is now 9-1 overall and 4-1 in the SWL. Fruita improved to 7-1, 4-0.
