All streaks eventually come to an end.
The Demons just were hoping theres would come because they ran out of games to play.
Eagle Valley used a couple of quick bursts in the second half to pull away, then held off the Durango High School boys lacrosse team 12-7 on Friday, ending the Demons five-game winning streak and curbing their goal of winning the seasons final seven games.
A tense, back-and-forth contest pulled even at 6 on a goal by Durangos Jacob Boyle with 4 minutes, 34 seconds left in the third quarter.
Sam Boyd scored one of his five goals for Eagle Valley (6-9, 3-6 Mountain League) to retake the lead with 3:13 left in the frame, and that goal seemed to get Durango (6-7, 1-7 ML) out of sorts for the rest of the frame and early in the fourth quarter, when the Devils scored twice in the periods first four minutes to go up 9-6.
It seemed like once they tied it and then once they went ahead, everybody just started to panic a bit and started to try and rush everything towards the goal rather than try and slow it down, DHS head coach John Robinette said.
Trevor Gabbard tallied with 7:08 to play to trim the lead to 9-7, but DHS couldnt get any closer as Eagle Valley possessed the ball well and scored three more times to put the game out of reach.
They kept kind of easing and easing in, and all of a sudden were tied, then were up, then were tied again, Durango goalie Walker Brown said. I dont know. Theyre a good team. They definitely had really good clears, and they had stars at every position.
Jared Salaz and Quinn McCord scored twice for Eagle Valley, and Gregg Salaz, Justin Hart and Johnny Bailey each added goals.
Gabbard scored three times and had two assists for the Demons, while Boyle and Liam Millar each chipped in a pair.
Robinette, however, lamented the shooting percentage for DHS, as Durango fired a few too many shots wide of the goal.
The Eagle Valley defense had plenty to do with that, and Grant Johnson played a strong game in the cage for Eagle Valley.
Our attack got shut down. Give their defense credit, Robinette said.
Faceoffs were a struggle, too, with Durango winning just five of 15 draws unofficially. One reason for that was Patrick Cunnion, who typically takes most of Durangos faceoffs, had been cleared to play just before gametime after suffering a concussion earlier in the season. The other was the power of Eagle Valleys Cody Thurston, whos listed at 6-1, 235 pounds.
The final tally could have been worse for Durango if not for the stellar afternoon turned in by Brown. The junior goalie stopped 17 shots, including several sterling saves, many of them coming in a tense first half that ended with DHS clinging to a 4-3 lead after going up 4-1 in the second quarter.
Brown, as most goalies are wont to do, credited the help he received from his defense.
Its all a team effort, really, said Brown, son of Helen Mary Johnson. It does help so much when the defense is on their guy and kind of get in the way or do whatever they can to help.
Robinette said his team appeared tired down the stretch after doing battle with a comparable Eagle Valley team. He took on a good chunk of the blame for that, crediting the fatigue to his substitution patterns.
Durango still can finish at .500 with a win at 11 a.m. Saturday against Glenwood Springs on Senior Day. This one, however, the Demons would like back.
It started from the top down. We just all didnt execute as well as we needed to to get that victory, Robinette said.
rowens@durangoherald.com
