The Durango High School girls lacrosse team stayed alive in the hunt for a 4A Mountain West title with three league wins in three days.
Starting at Telluride on Thursday, after the game got pushed back a day because of snow, the Demons scored a 15-7 win.
On Friday at Fort Lewis College, the Demons piled on a dominate 16-1 victory over Montrose.
Durango then took on the league-leading Fruita Monument Wildcats at DHS on Saturday. Fruita had a one-goal lead at halftime, but DHS only allowed one goal in the second half as they rallied for a 12-6 win.
“We definitely had their number in the second half,” said Annabel Carithers. “We had them figured out and only allowed one goal while we waited for opportunities to go and score.”
“We had a really good game against Telluride that allowed us get our subs in and against Montrose everybody played,” said DHS head coach Eric Elliot. “All of that built up to today’s success. We were really conscious about game management and it’s nice when some new players make an impact right away.”
With the wins, Durango improved to 8-5 overall and 6-2 in the league with only a home game Tuesday against Telluride left on its schedule. Fruita slipped to 7-5, 5-1 and has games against Montrose and Grand Junction left, meaning DHS still needs some help to win the league.
The Demons, however, were happy to get a win over the Wildcats to even the season-series at one game a piece. Fruita won the first contest 12-9.
“It was a huge win; they were the No. 1 team in our league and doubled their score,” Carithers said.
“It’s awesome,” Elliot said. “In my four years, only one team has beat us twice in a row.”
Silvie Bosmans led DHS with four goals against Fruita, including some big scores to start the second half.
“I challenged the girls; if they wanted it they would have to come out after half and take it, and they did,” Elliot said. “Fruita is a good team with a good coach and we knew they wouldn’t give it to us. Silvie definitely heard the call and she took over the first five minutes of the second half.”
Emmylou Willis and Vikki Barletta also scored three goals each against Fruita.
Leading 7-5, Willis scored on a free ball to extend Durango’s lead. The Wildcats cut it back to two, but Willis then picked up a ground ball in front of the net and scored again.
Goalie Fiona Chandler made some a couple good saves in one spurt, but for the most part DHS controlled the second half. Barletta bounced a goal in, Jordan Meininger assisted Bosmans, who scored with a spinning shot, and then Taylor Babcock scored the final goal of the game.
Against Montrose, 11 different Demons scored at least one goal. Barletta led the team with three goals while Mia Carozza, Willis and Sofia Naffsinger scored twice each.
Against Telluride, Naffsinger led DHS with three goals. Willis and Bosmans scored twice each while Meininger, Barletta and Babcock also scored.
“In the first game Vikki and Annabel were double teamed the whole game, but those two have really good stick skills and can move it around really well creating their own opportunities,” Elliot said. “In this game though they used those skills to get their teammates involved. We have preached unselfish play since the first day of preseason back in January and it paid off dividends.”
Chandler also had a strong performance against the Miners, making 16 saves.
“We spent a lot of time working on the goalie this week in practice, focusing on controlling the ball after the shot and eliminating those rebound opportunities and it paid dividends on both sides,” Elliot said.
Besides a barrage, Durango’s defensive unit of Jaden Rambo, Lecy Martinez, Kyana Newcomer-Ball and Livie Rome, plus Laurel Dondlinger and Stella James coming off the bench, DHS clamped down and made every possession a battle.
“It feels great,” Carithers said after the three wins. “Hopefully, we can keep the momentum going against Telluride and host a playoff game; that’s our No. 1 goal.”
The top-24 teams in Class 4A will make the playoffs and the top-16 teams will get to host at least one game.
