Tuesday was a day of firsts for the Durango High School girls lacrosse team. As the No. 13 seed for the Class 4A state tournament, the Demons hosted their first-ever playoff game against No. 20 Liberty in the first round.
The Demons then went out and picked up the program’s first-ever playoff win, 19-6, over the Lancers.
“My first year or two we never got past the league, so it’s really cool to progress to the next step,” senior captain Victoria Barletta said. “We’re all skilled individually, but we work great as a unit.”
The Lancers put some early shots on frame and took a 1-0 lead 8:51 into the contest.
DHS responded by scoring three goals in under a minute and never trailed again.
Barletta got the scoring going by bouncing in a free position goal. Emmylou Willis gave DHS the lead 38 seconds later. Durango then won the ensuing face off and Jordan Meininger scored at the other end, putting DHS up 3-1.
The teams traded goals after that, with Silvie Bosmans and Dillon Aspen both scoring after LHS goals. Willis’ second goal put DHS up 6-3, but Liberty responded with another goal.
With 1:21 remaining in the half, Sofia Naffziger sparked a DHS rally, streaking in front of the goal and throwing a low shot in the net. Naffziger then scored a second goal 19 seconds later, getting an assist from Bosmans.
Liberty cut Durango’s lead to 8-5 with 27 seconds remaining in the half, but Durango answered again. DHS won the ensuing face off and Bosmans took the ball down the field and scored 12 seconds before halftime, giving DHS a 9-5 lead.
In the second half, Durango’s defense stepped up and only allowed one more Liberty goal.
“We pride ourselves on our defense,” DHS head coach Eric Elliot said. “We spend so much time conditioning that we’re a tough team to run on, and that was evident today.”
Durango’s offense, meanwhile, got a goal from Barletta 11 seconds into the half and Bosmans scored 31 seconds later.
“All year we’ve been really good at putting up a lot of goals really quick,” Elliot said. “It was really important to come out of halftime and score two goals in 40 seconds; that really stymies other teams.”
Back-to-back goals from Willis extended Durango’s lead to 13-5.
Liberty struck with a free position goal with 16:50 remaining, but the Demons kept the Lancers from getting any more.
Jordan Meininger, Barletta, Taylor Babcock, Kyana Newcomer-Ball, Bosmans and Mia Carozza then added goals to Durango’s lead.
Meininger loaded up and fired in a long shot in on a free position. Barletta scored just 10 seconds later. After Babcock scored, Newcomer-Ball took the ball the length of the field, splitting defenders and then firing in a shot. Bosmans scored on a free position and then Carozza came up with a steal and turned it into a quick transition goal.
The win was Durango’s eighth straight and gives DHS a perfect 6-0 home record for the year.
“I couldn’t be prouder,” Elliot said. “It was nice to see Durango come support these girls; it was a really good crowd.”
Next, the Demons were scheduled to play at No. 4 Denver South in the second round on Thursday. The winner will play again on Saturday in the quarterfinals. Visit DurangoHerald.com to see how DHS did against Denver South.
“I think we need to maintain a dominate attitude, don’t be nervous and just play like we can,” Barletta said.
“I told the girls to pack for the weekend; we don’t plan on coming home,” Elliot said. “We’re a tough team and these girls don’t give up. Our mantra right now is, ‘one more.’”
