In the preseason, Durango High School boys soccer head coach Sean Ackerman expected his team to score a lot of goals with a dynamic offense. His team showed that potential in the second half against Rampart on Saturday.
The Demons used their press, speed, versatility and passing to score two goals in seven minutes in the second half in a 3-2 comeback victory. Durango could’ve won by two or three goals if a few breakaways went differently.
Durango struggled to connect passes against Legend on Thursday. The Demons tried to play over the top and rarely challenged the Legend goalkeeper. At times on Saturday, the Demons continued to have those struggles. However, some halftime adjustments led to the Demons finding gaps on the wings and Durango exploited those attacks with some beautiful combinations on counterattacks.
“Credit to the boys after the halftime team talk, they adjusted exactly how we wanted with every point … we were able to create a chance pretty much right off the bat with good, fluid play that we were looking for and inspecting from this team,” Ackerman said. “We didn't see in the last game and so credit to them for stepping it up.”
Durango improved to 1-1 overall with the win after junior midfielder Carter House, junior forward Jed Lawler and senior midfielder Derek Caudle each scored for the Demons.
Rampart dropped to 0-1 after the loss. Cae Sende had one of the goals for the Rams.
Less than two minutes into the game, Rampart had the advantage. Durango worked on a new style of pressing and didn’t have it figured out early on. Rampart beat the press, dribbled down the right side and finished for the 1-0 lead.
Durango had the response. House dribbled down the right side and tried to pass to senior forward Jonas Hughes, but the ball deflected right back to him. House took advantage and finished into the right corner with his left foot. His goal tied the game, 1-1, with 20 minutes left in the half.
Both teams had chances late in the first half, but the game was tied, 1-1, at halftime.
Ackerman said the key message at halftime was to play through the wings, not through the middle because Rampart was pressing. Durango tried to play through the middle in the opening game against Legend and Ackerman didn’t want his team to force the ball through the middle against Rampart.
The Demons started the second half strong, controlling possession in the first 10 minutes.
Then, Rampart responded to take a 2-1 lead. The Rams had multiple corner kicks and converted after a Durango defender cleared the ball to the top of the 18-yard box. Waiting there was Rampart’s Sende, who took a touch and fired a shot through the masses inside the box. The shot ended up in the lower right corner for a 2-1 lead with 30:41 left.
The Rams almost increased their lead to 3-1 five minutes later. A Rampart forward got behind the Durango defense and had a one-on-one opportunity with Durango senior goalkeeper Quinn Harrison. The Rampart forward couldn’t convert as Harrison made a diving save, which sent the ball flying into the air. The same Rampart forward tried a bicycle kick on the rebound, but it barely went over the crossbar.
Durango quickly responded after some shaky play in the back. A Demon had a great hustle play to keep the ball in bounds as it headed for the left corner. This allowed Lawler to get the ball and cut inside to the right. He fired a shot across the goal into the right corner to tie the game, 2-2, with 23:33 remaining.
The Demons capitalized on a successful counter attack. Durango had a great string of passes which led to some chances in the box that were kicked away for a corner. The Demons took a corner from the left side.
Junior midfielder Miles Daley drove it low and into the box and Caudle had a great flick with the outside of his right foot from close range. His flick propelled the ball into the air with a lot of spin and the ball dropped fell into the net and over the keeper for a 3-2 lead with 17 minutes left.
Durango continued to create quality chances and almost had a fourth goal with 10 minutes left. Durango put together a great counter attack and Wyatt McGuire had a one-on-one opportunity with the keeper that he missed.
Only a few minutes later, Lawler intercepted a sloppy pass from a Rampart defender and had a breakaway with the Rampart keeper off his line. Lawler missed the net.
“We just needed a little bit more composure to finish the game off,” Ackerman said. “But, I can't really dog them for that because they were just fantastic in the second half with the desire and the willingness to win. Also credit to the bench players, because any time that a player went on the field, the level didn’t drop.”
Durango has some time off before playing at home against Farmington on Sept. 2.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
