Lane Arnwine used her superior speed to get past two Grand Junction defenders. With the ball hugging the goal line, she turned and placed a perfect pass in the middle of the box. Her teammate, Madeline Dearien, got her foot on the ball and fired a rocket into the back of the goal. The marvelous play and assist from Arnwine fired up the Durango Demons right before halftime. It had the opposite effect on the opponent.
Arnwine’s hustle helped give the Durango girls soccer team a 1-0 lead at halftime against Class 5A/4A Southwestern League foe Grand Junction (7-3, 2-3 SWL). The Demons (8-4, 4-1 SWL) carried the momentum boost it provided into the second half and routed the Tigers 4-0 to maintain their league lead with three games to play.
“It got the girls fired up,” DHS head coach Dalon Parker said of the team’s first goal. “It also took Grand Junction down a notch and took life out of them. It was a two-fold thing for us.
“The girls finally did what we asked them to do. They went out trying to pass it around like they’re Barcelona. We told Lane to go attack the goal. She did it, and it was great.”
Arnwine had two assists in the game on the team’s first two goals. Each time she used her speed to break down the defense and find a wide-open teammate.
“Running is definitely my strong suit I would say,” Arnwine said. “I like when they give me balls and I run onto them for sure.”
Kayla Rubinstein was the recipient of Arnwine’s second assist. The Grand Junction goalkeeper came out to play Arnwine in a two-girls breakaway. Before the goalie reached Arnwine, she slipped a pass to Rubinstein who finished a shot in a wide open goal.
“I wasn’t actually sure I was gonna be able to score this game,” Rubinstein said. “I just decided that I was gonna try to shoot whenever I could, then if it went in great. It benefited my team.”
Rubinstein added a second goal that was a long-range rocket fired over the Tigers’ goalkeeper.
“She unleashed the beast,” Arnwine said of Rubinstein’s strike.
The Demons added a fourth goal from Jael Larson with 17 minutes to play. After a corner kick, there was a mess of players in front of goal going after the ball. It finally bounced to Larson, who found the back of the net with a close-range shot.
The Demons also benefitted from the return of freshman Emily Badgley in goal, as she recovered from a concussion earlier this season. She made smart plays on the ball and prevented any dangerous opportunities for the Tigers. Parker credited goalkeeper coach Amanda Raso for the work she and Badgley do together for the smart play in goal.
Durango played early Saturday morning to give the team time to prepare for prom. After a stern warning about behavior from their head coach, it was time to prepare for the big dance. The big win was a nice way to open the big day for the DHS players.
Durango is trying to maintain the league lead over Fruita Monument. The teams share the lead in the standings, but the Demons own a one-goal tiebreaker differential in head-to-head games with the Wildcats this year. If the Demons can win their final three games - two against Grand Junction Central and another match with the Tigers – they will claim the SWL title.
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
