The Durango boys soccer squad eliminated any memory of last year’s agonizing first-round loss with a 6-3 win at home against Lewis-Palmer on Thursday night.
Senior midfielder Davis Cameron led the way with two goals for the Demons.
“He’s our leader, on and off the field,” Durango coach Danny Suits said of Cameron. “He came up big when we needed him the most.”
Senior forward Teryk Webber also found the back of the net, as did senior midfielder Sam Persing, senior defender Lucas Foster and senior midfielder Enzo Guglielmo.
The Demons (13-2-1) haven’t lost since Sept. 8 and are on a 10-game unbeaten streak. Lewis-Palmer’s season ended with a 6-10 record.
“We’re not looking back, we’re enjoying this one,” Suits said when asked about last season’s playoff loss. “We’re a different team with a different mentality. We expected to come in and win this game.”
Things looked shaky for Durango at first. A cross from the right side by Lewis-Palmer found a Ranger striker, and he hit the post with his shot. Breadon Turner found the rebound and put the ball in the net in the second minute, giving Lewis-Palmer a 1-0 lead.
The Demons quickly responded. A scramble for the ball in the 18-yard box ended in a toe poke from Webber to tie the match at 1-1 with 29:13 left in the first half.
“After that first goal, I didn’t go down, no one on this team, none of their spirits went down,” Cameron said. “We knew we were still in this game and we had a lot of game ahead of us.”
Lewis-Palmer struggled to possess the ball in the midfield and resolved to kicking long balls and having its strikers chase after them.
But the Rangers were very physical throughout the night and the referees let them play.
“All credit to Lewis-Palmer, they played a really good game,” Suits said. “They were really physical, but I’m super proud of our guys they played probably the best game of the season.”
Durango’s second goal was a beautiful low-driven ball by Cameron from about 25 yards out to the lower right side of the net. Maverick Rodriguez assisted Cameron in the 30th minute of the first half, and Cameron wasn’t done in the first half yet.
The Demons were awarded a free-kick from about 37 yards out. Cameron stepped up and struck a beauty into the top left corner of the net with less than two minutes remaining in the first half. Durango took a 3-1 lead into the half.
“Chances like that don’t come often, and it’s something that there’s a little bit of luck involved,” Cameron said about his free-kick goal.
The second half started like the first half ended, with Durango controlling most of the possessions, having plenty of space to move the ball and find shots. The Demons had numerous attempts, but most were off-target in the first five minutes.
Sam Persing officially put the match away with a beautiful strike. Persing ran onto a bouncing long ball inside the 18-yard box and crushed it past the keeper in the lower left side in the 64th minute to make it 4-1.
Lewis-Palmer scored two goals in the last 15 minutes, but so did Foster in the 72nd minute. Guglielmo scored in the last two minutes on an overpowering counterattack to make it 6-3.
“(Those two Lewis-Palmer) goals came off slow transitions in the midfield, and that was on me and some of my teammates,” Cameron said. “On those, we just need to make sure that we’re supporting the defense as much as possible.”
Durango will host Air Academy in the second round this upcoming Wednesday.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
