By the time the Demons solved the Indians’ defense, it was too late.
The Durango High School boys soccer team fell behind by a pair before Nick Aggeler cut the lead in half in the 76th minute, and Montrose held on for a 2-1 win over DHS on Saturday at Dirks Field on the Fort Lewis College campus.
The Demons (3-2, 1-1 Southwestern League) actually started out the stronger of the two squads, holding possession for large chunks of the first 20 minutes. But DHS, plagued by trouble with its first touch, couldn’t connect in the attacking third as it had in Friday’s 5-0 win over Grand Junction.
Montrose found a couple of great chances against the run of play, with DHS goalkeeper Patrick Leach up to the task on a pair of 1-on-1 opportunities for the Indians in the first 11 minutes. But Leach was called for a foul on Montrose’s Greg Shawcroft after he left his net and couldn’t come up with a loose ball, and Braydon Reese buried the penalty kick to give defending SWL champion Montrose a 1-0 lead in the 18th minute.
From that first goal until late in the second half, DHS seemed a bit too eager to force the issue through the middle of the field instead of trying its luck on the wings on the wider college pitch.
The Demons created a few chances, with great opportunities for Jacob Kaplan, Cory Munch, Cameron Treharne and Zeb Soignier being turned away, but too many times more potential opportunities were dead before they started because DHS couldn’t solve congestion in the center of the pitch.
“After the PK, I think we got a little desperate,” said Aggeler, son of Cheryle and Terence Aggeler. “We just couldn’t connect our passes. ... We weren’t staying calm and collected.”
Montrose pierced the Demons for a backbreaking goal early in the second half. A DHS turnover led to an opening for Reese, who scored his second goal of the afternoon in the 42nd minute by tucking a shot into the lower left-hand side of the net past a sprawling Leach to push the Indians’ advantage to 2-0.
“That was huge,” Montrose head coach Jim Pavlich said. “That’s exactly what we talked about at halftime because I know the Demons, and I know they’re going to play to win just like us, so it was really important to get that early and then keep pressing.”
Aggeler finally got the Demons on the board in the 76th minute as part of a late surge by Durango that came up just short. Moments after a great save by Keegan Sullinger robbed Soignier from point-blank range, David Schwantes slid a pass across the penalty area that found Aggeler in front, and he tucked a shot inside the left post to cut the Indians’ lead to 2-1.
Leach made 10 saves for the Demons, while Montrose held a 12-6 edge in shots on goal.
DHS will hit the road to take on Grand Junction Central on Friday before a key matchup with Fruita Monument, who holds the edge in the SWL after topping Montrose 3-0 last week.
“I think whoever we play next weekend ... it’s definitely going to be a great game, and we can take out this aggressivness and get angry at this,” Aggeler said.
rowens@durangoherald.com
