The Durango boys soccer team ended its nonleague schedule in style on Tuesday night with a 4-0 victory at Alamosa.
Although it wasn’t the most impressive win (Alamosa is now 0-7 overall) it was an important one as Durango looks to establish some momentum heading into the heart of league play. The Demons have some work to do if they want to get a good seed in the postseason and have their 12th consecutive full season with 10+ wins.
“We spent a lot of time on defending and switch of play throughout the last couple of weeks,” Durango boys soccer head coach Sean Ackerman said. “It was nice to see us actually enact those different styles that we've been working on and do it well.”
The Demons improved to 5-4 overall; it was Durango’s first shutout win since Sept. 5.
Durango controlled possession early in the first half, according to Ackerman. The Demons first struck after a corner kick; senior midfielder Derek Caudle received the corner, then played a low, driven ball to junior midfielder Miles Daley, who finished into the lower right corner.
Alamosa then lost the ball deep in its own half, allowing Caudle to find senior forward Benjie Masterson, who had an easy finish to put the Demons up 2-0 at the half.
In the second half, Ackerman saw an opportunity to put some players in who hadn’t got a lot of playing time. The Demons scored their third when Caudle beat two defenders in the midfield, one in Alamosa’s back line and then finished in the lower left corner.
Ackerman was happy to see junior varsity sophomore Mason McLaughlin get into the game and score Durango’s fourth goal.
Next up for Durango is a home game against Montrose on Friday at 5 p.m.
The Durango High School boys golf team once again showed off its depth on Monday by splitting up to compete in different tournaments. Both squads had solid results as the team is almost done with the regular season with state right a few weeks out.
A group of Durango’s top golfers went up to Grand Junction to compete in the Southwestern League GJ Tiger Invitational at Bookcliff Country Club; that group finished fourth out of 14 teams.
“All in all, it was just an okay day for us,” Durango boys golf head coach Kirk Rawles said about his top group. “If we had figured out the greens at all, we probably could have moved up a couple slots as far as the team rankings went.
The other group finished third out of 10 teams at the 12th Annual Boys Soria Invitational at Riverview Golf Club in Kirtland.
Durango’s team in Grand Junction finished with a team score of 18-over-par. Aspen finished first at 7-over-par, Grand Junction was second at 9-over-par and Fruita Monument was third at 15-over-par.
Junior Drew Jepson was the top Demon in Grand Junction, finishing in fifth at 2-over-par. Hunter Simmons from Grand Junction and Leo Roennau from Aspen led the field at 2-under-par.
“Drew actually hit 16 greens in regulation,” Rawles said. “He just had a difficult time figuring out the greens up there. It was kind of tough, because I think he had four three-putts. But, as far as ball-striking and hitting the ball, it was probably one of his better performances as far as that goes. He just couldn't quite get it in the hole.”
Rawles said Bookcliff Country Club has fast and sloping greens so if golfers miss the green or hit it above the hole, it’s very hard to get it close to the hole. There is plenty of room to miss and the course isn’t very long, according to Rawles.
Durango senior Nolan Pace finished 15th at 7-over-par and junior Hayes Malone was tied-18th at 9-over-par.
In Kirtland, the Demons finished at 46-over-par. New Mexico high school golf and Colorado high school golf’s scoring are different. A team score in Colorado is the combined score of the top three scorers from each team. In New Mexico, it’s the top four scorers from each team.
Farmington won the event at 33-over-par. Pagosa Springs was second at 44-over-par. The Demons would’ve likely finished second if it was for a spectacular round by Pagosa Springs’ Jonathon Smith, who won the tournament at 6-under-par.
Durango had a well-rounded team effort in Kirtland. Freshman Parker Lafferty, sophomore Zane Compton and senior Austin Romero each finished at 11-over-par, good for tied-ninth. Junior Brody Lafferty rounded out the scoring for the Demons at 13-over-par and tied-14th.
It doesn’t seem to matter what meets the Durango cross country program goes to because both teams are always near the top. That was the case on Saturday in Monument Valley Park.
The Durango boys and girls cross country teams both finished second in the 4A/5A 5-kilometer races in the Coronado Cougar Classic 2025.
“It’s pretty much all on a nice crush gravel path, except for the first 100 meters and the last 100 meters,” Durango cross country head coach Michael Fadil said. “So, I was a little surprised the times weren’t faster … the kids all ran well. I was hoping some of the teams up in the Front Range would have had more people there. Air Academy, only had one or two girls, and the rest went out to a meet in California. So, the team competition wasn't what I was hoping for. But, it was still good to see some of the folks we're going to see in regionals and state meet.”
The Demons girls team finished second in the 4A/5A race with 64 points behind the Classical Academy with 50 points. Manitou Springs was third with 97 points.
Chamorra Cooper from Air Academy won the girls 4A/5A race in 17 minutes and 40.4 seconds. Junior Lacy Ruggiero led Durango with her fifth-place finish in 19:03.2. Behind her in sixth was freshman Zia Fadil in 19:19.8 and fellow freshman Rebekah Quayle was in seventh in 19:20.6
On the boys side, Durango finished second in the 4A/5A team standings with 85 points. Ahead of Durango was Coronado with 27 points. The Classical Academy finished third with 115 points.
Oliver Horton from Coronado won the boys 4A/5A race in 14:38.2. Senior Miles Snow was the top Durango finisher in 14th in 16:41.7, followed by junior Rocco Enea in 17th in 16:44.6, junior Jack Purcell in 18th in 16:44.7 and junior Jackson Fisher in 19th in 16:56.2
The Durango volleyball team has steadied the ship after a tough start to the season in the nonleague schedule. Durango lost to Fruita Monument, 3-1, on Friday before winning at Grand Junction, 3-0, on Saturday.
Durango moved to 4-10 overall and 2-2 in the 4A/5A Southwestern League; the Demons are 4-5 overall after their 0-5 start to the season.
On Friday, the Demons lost to the Wildcats 14-25, 21-25, 25-23, 16-25. Senior Aysia Mathews led Durango with 14 kills and sophomore Devyn Edwards added 12 kills. Senior Indie Shows led Durango with 32 assists.
Durango bounced back with a 25-12, 25-14, 25-13 win over the Tigers. Mathews and Edwards each finished with six kills while senior Hadyn Neiman added five kills. Shows had 15 assists.
The Demons hit the road to play at Montrose on Thursday at 6 p.m.
Durango boys tennis is still searching for its first win of the season after two road losses at the end of last week. The Demons lost 6-1 at Aspen on Friday and 4-3 at Basalt on Saturday.
On Friday, seniors Ben Williams and Gabe Clark had the lone win for the Demons in a three-set victory in No. 3 doubles. They beat Aspen’s Like Abbaszadeh and Charlie Morris, 7-6, 2-6, 13-11.
Durango had more success on Saturday in its 4-3 loss to Basalt. In No. 3 singles, Durango senior Andre Craig beat Basalt’s Hank Bielenberg, 6-1, 1-6 and 10-6.
Clark and Williams had another win in No. 3 doubles, this time beating Basalt’s David Mawicke and Collin Lee, 6-2, 3-6 and 10-8. In No. 4 doubles Durango senior Luke Elias and sophomore Luke Gustafson beat Basalt’s Caleb Opp and Max Funsten, 6-1, 6-1.
The Demons have their first and final two home matches on Friday and Saturday against Grand Junction.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
