The Durango High School girls’ lacrosse team closed out its regular season with a 14-2 victory over Telluride on Tuesday at DHS.
The win was Durango’s seventh straight win, improving its record to 9-5 overall and 6-2 in the 4A Mountain West. DHS also closed out its regular season a perfect 5-0 home record.
“It’s nice having our team peaking as we head into playoffs this year,” said head coach Eric Elliot. “Last year, we kind of skidded into the playoffs, but this year, we know what to expect and are primed to make a run in playoffs. Currently, we are ranked No. 12 (in the CHSAA Selection and Seeding Index) and if that holds, we should be hosting a first round game on Tuesday. No matter what happens with the rankings, we are exactly where we to be as a team heading into playoffs and we will be rested. These kids aren’t ready to send off our seniors yet, so we are going to do our best to get a few more practices and games with them before graduation.”
After beating Telluride 7-5 and 15-7 in two previous matches this season, the Demons continued to separate from the Miners in the third matchup.
Victoria Barletta won the opening draw, took it all the way to goal and buried a shot in the back of the net in the opening 11 seconds of the game. Unfortunately, the goal was waived off because a shooting space call.
The next five minutes weren’t the cleanest for either team. Nobody could hold on to the ball for long, and the Demons had some trouble getting it up off the turf.
“The girls came out pretty fired up, and I think the nerves got the best of them,” Elliot said. “It only took about five minutes to calm down a bit and get into our rhythm.”
Annabel Carithers started the scoring at the 20-minute mark and was quickly followed up by Emmylou Willis and Barletta. The Demons continued burying shots and went into halftime leading 8-1.
DHS then won the second half 6-1 to finish off the dominant win.
Carithers scored three goals in the game to lead DHS.
Barletta, Willis and Silvie Bosmans scored two goals apiece.
Kyana Newcomer-Ball picked up a ground ball and ran it the length of the field untouched to score a goal from the defensive position.
Sofia Naffsinger had a goal and two assists. Taylor Babcock scored after getting a nice pass from fellow freshman Mia Carozza. Jordan Meininger and Jaden Rambo also scored goals for DHS.
“It was nice to see Jaden Rambo pick up her first career goal,” Elliot said. “Jaden is a senior captain on the defense and to have her score on her senior night was a great way to cap off the regular season. I don’t think I’ve seen such a team celebration like the one on Jaden’s goal. It just goes to show what a huge part of the team she has been and her play on defense over the last three years has played a big part of our success.”
Durango’s other seniors include Barletta, Sophia Kothe and Olivia Rome.
DHS is currently second in the league behind Fruita Monument (8-5, 6-1). Fruita beat Grand Junction on Monday, 12-8, and can lock up the league title in its final game Thursday against Montrose (0-10, 0-7).
The Class 4A state brackets are scheduled to be released on Sunday, with the playoffs beginning next week.
