Durango erased a 4-1 deficit, found the attack it’s been looking for and received two crucial saves in the final minutes to earn a win Tuesday.
Seeking their first win of the season, the Demons earned it in a big way. The Durango High School girls lacrosse team used a late first-half surge to secure a lead it wouldn’t give up down the stretch in a 12-10 home win against Telluride.
“We finally got the intensity up,” said DHS junior captain Joie Raybourn. “I’m glad everyone got into the attack.”
Raybourn helped set the tone with aggressive play in the midfield. She had four goals to extend her team lead on the season.
But it was the underclassmen connection of sophomore Kiara Valley and freshman Maddie Stutey that really got the Demons rolling. Stutey received a pass in front of goal and did a pirouette in front of the Telluride goalie before firing a shot past her to cut Telluride’s lead to 4-3. She then tied the game at 4-4 moments later with another well-placed shot.
A Raybourn goal gave DHS a 5-4 lead, and Morgan Allen scored minutes later with an assist from Valley to make it a two-goal lead and force Telluride to take a timeout to try to stop Durango’s 5-0 run of goals.
Stutey added another goal with 4 seconds to play in the first half, giving Durango a hard-fought 7-4 lead at the break.
“I was really excited,” Stutey said. “It was like victorious and brought my pride back up.”
The scoring outburst was a relief for the Demons’ attack, which was largely shut down in the opening two weeks of the season. In four previous games, the Demons had only 14 goals.
“Offense is one of the things we’ve been struggling with,” DHS head coach Jeff Einfalt said. “We’ve been getting going slow. It’s a matter of trying to get everybody on the same page and get momentum going from the get-go.”
Valley finished with two goals and two assists. Stutey had four goals, and Grace Weaver also had a goal for the Demons.
While the goals were big for Durango, it was two late saves by Olivia Morgan that sealed the win. Durango led by as much as 11-6 and 12-7 with 7:38 to play, but the Miners wouldn’t go down easy. The lead was down to 12-9 only 90 seconds later and was 12-10 with 1:36 to play. But Morgan made two crucial saves in the final minute to secure the Durango victory. When the final buzzer sounded, the bench raced onto the field to celebrate with the goalie.
“Goalkeepers live in a hard world where every mistake they take personally, and it’s not always their fault when a goal goes in,” Einfalt said. “To see them step up and make a big save like that is incredible, and you want to celebrate it with them.”
Durango (1-4) has another tough trip to Denver ahead Friday with a game at Mullen and a Saturday contest at Cherokee Trail.
“It was good to get it going, but we have a lot we can improve on,” Raybourn said.
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
