Beating the Summit boys lacrosse team is no easy task.
It’s something the Durango Demons never had done, until Saturday.
Behind a complete team effort, Durango High School (3-1, 1-1 Mountain League) picked up a 10-5 win against the Summit Tigers (2-4, 2-2 ML) at Longs Park in Grand Junction.
“It is a huge win for our program. It is the first time as a varsity program we have been able to beat them,” DHS head coach John Robinette said. “The kids are super stoked.”
Seven of the Demons’ 10 goals were assisted, and DHS won 10-of-12 faceoffs in the game.
“A big reason we won is because Jacob Boyle was 6-of-7 in faceoffs, and he won seven groundballs; Hunter Hall also was 4-for-5 in faceoffs,” Robinette said. “I can’t say enough about Duncan Whitley, too. He came up big with eight groundballs. The guys played defense and got up and down the field.”
DHS went up 2-0 early on goals by Trevor Gabbard and Liam Millar, both of which were assisted by Wesley Komick, who played his first game of the season Saturday.
The Demons led 2-1 after one quarter before scoring five goals in the second to take a 7-4 halftime lead. Komick scored three goals in the second quarter, and Jared Cook scored the other two.
Millar scored two more goals in the second half, and Gabbard also added another in the fourth quarter.
“Summit came out with high pressure in the second half, and our kids held them off and kept possession,” Robinette said.
DHS goalkeeper Walker Brown made 11 saves for the Demons.
“He was tremendous again. His senior leadership is so valuable to our team,” Robinette said of his goalie.
Though the Demons had built sizable leads in the game, Robinette said the boys maintained focus until the final whistle.
“We didn’t celebrate too much until the very end. We knew the task at hand,” Robinette said. “Summit was down 4-0 (Friday) to Telluride and still won that game. We knew we had to play a full 48 minutes to close it out.”
Robinette said the victory was sweet relief to the seniors who have spent four years trying to summit the Tigers.
The Demons have a week off to prepare for Eagle Valley at 4 p.m. Friday in Gypsum.
“Eagle is a team we have beat several times before but lost to the last couple of years, including one tough one at home last year,” Robinette said. “The kids are focusing on what’s next, and that’s Eagle.”
heraldsports@durangoherald.com
