What turned into a beautiful spring day turned into a beautiful spring result on Saturday as the Durango High School girls soccer team dominated Grand Junction Central for an easy 8-0 home win.
The Demons dominated possession throughout, creating countless easy chances. Durango head coach Zac Keeler got his bench involved as Durango was always a step quicker, more skilled and better at possessing the ball than the Warriors.
Six players either scored or assisted on goals for the Demons as they won their sixth consecutive game and 18th consecutive 4A/5A Southwestern League game. The Demons’ last league loss was on March 29, 2024, to Montrose.
“Our second-half performance was definitely the thing I felt most proud of,” Keeler said. “We made sure we were getting a lot of touches all around the field, and we got a lot of different players playing at different positions, and they had a fun time out there.”
Durango improved to 6-1 overall and 4-0 in the 4A/5A Southwestern League after its largest win of the season. Grand Junction Central dropped to 0-8 overall and 0-5 in the 4A/5A Southwestern League.
Demons sophomore Lia Schowalter led Durango with two goals and two assists. Senior Josie Phare and junior Lila Scherer-Sickler each had two goals for the Demons.
Fast starts have been a trend for the Demons this season, and that continued on Saturday with Phare scoring the first goal less than 30 seconds into the game. Disaster then struck a minute after that for Grand Junction Central as an own goal went through the Warriors’ keeper’s legs.
Schwalter scored her first of the day in the 12th minute, and Scherer-Sickler converted a free kick for a 4-0 lead in the 18th minute as the Demons took that lead into halftime.
“We've been trying to put pressure on teams just from the get-go,” Keeler said. “It's a goal of ours to just make sure we come off strong, attack from the sides and get some good opportunities from the wings.”
Just like she did to start the first half, Phare scored early in the second half. Schowalter played a ball from the right side across to the left, where Phare controlled the ball as it went past the keeper. She kicked it across the goal line into the right corner for a 5-0 lead with 38:40 left in the second half.
Keeler used his bench to start the second half, and the level of play didn’t drop as the Demons played conservatively with the 5-0 lead, keeping possession beautifully and not taking bad shots.
“We got some lucky goals in the first half,” Keeler said. “We really were trying to focus to get back into our game. We wanted to connect with our players instead of dribbling and trying to show off our dribbling skills.”
The Demons’ next chance was via a penalty kick after Scherer-Sickler was taken down by two defenders and the goalie inside the 18-yard box. She missed one of the few penalty kicks the Demons have taken this year. A few minutes later, the Demons responded by building out of the back. Sophomore Alyza Griego played a through ball to Schowalter, who just got to it before the keeper, poking it home for a 6-0 lead with 27:08 left.
“I've been working on my composure with the goal, not trying to just finesse it in and passing it in,” Schowalter said. “That's how I scored both of them, just taking my time.”
Scherer-Sickler made the advantage 7-0 by chipping a bouncing ball into the right corner of the net for a 7-0 lead. The highlight of the game was senior goalkeeper Ryne Nieman scoring the first goal of her career. Playing at striker, Neiman was at the right place at the right time to kick a rebound into the back of the net for an 8-0 lead with 13 minutes left.
The Demons return home to play Montezuma-Cortez on Tuesday at 5 p.m.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
