Durango High School has had one of its most successful spring seasons in recent history and Demons fans will hope the success will continue in the state playoffs.
On Sunday, the girls soccer and boys and girls lacrosse teams found out their first-round playoff matchups. Girls soccer and lacrosse will play at home, while boys lacrosse will hit the road.
The Durango girls soccer team got the highest seed of any Durango spring sports team and can possibly host two playoff home games with the No. 5 seed.
First, the Demons must get through No. 28 Mountain View out of Loveland in the first round of the 4A state playoffs. The teams will play at Durango High School on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.
“As the week was going on, we kept on moving around a bit from the fifth spot,” Durango girls soccer head coach Zac Keeler said. “So it was exciting to see that we got the fifth spot and the seed, sorry. We’re looking forward to trying to prove to Colorado that they made the right decision.”
The Demons finished the regular season 12-3 overall and 10-0 in the 4A/5A Southwestern League. Durango won its final 12 games and averaged 3.5 goals per game.
Durango had a well-balanced offensive attack, with senior Emma Hyder leading the way with 26 points off nine goals and eight assists. Junior Josie Phare wasn’t far behind with 23 points (11 goals, one assist) and senior Bella Saren finished with 18 points (eight goals, two assists). The Demons had six players with at least 10 points. Junior Ryne Neiman started in goal and had a save percentage of 95.3%.
“We're really well-rounded,” Keeler said. “When you look at, say, Montrose, they've got Ellie Duncan, who just scores all of their goals. We've got Bella Saren and we've got Emma Hyder; we've got Ellis Campbell and Josie Phare. Everybody's sharing the wealth out on the field. It's really tough for teams to try to watch out for multiple players when you've got such good, quality players out there.”
Mountain View finished the regular season 11-4 overall and 6-2 in 4A/3A Longs Peak League. The Mountain Lions averaged four goals per game. Mountain View lost its four games by an average of 5.25 goals. The Mountain Lions won six of their final seven games.
The Mountain Lions are led by freshman Elynn Hickey. Wearing No. 7, Hickey scored 22 goals and 25 assists for 69 points.
Keeler said his team will be focused on Hickey and a few other players. But he wants his team to work on the things they’ve done well in the past few games as well as add a new wrinkle or two to the Demons’ offense.
If Durango wins, it will play the winner of No. 12 Riverdale Ridge and No. 21 Montrose at Durango High School.
Girls lacrosse earns first-round home game after historic season
The Durango girls lacrosse team earned a home playoff game after an excellent regular season. The No. 9-seeded Demons will face No. 24 St. Mary’s Academy, from Englewood, on Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m. in the first round of the 4A state playoffs.
Durango finished the regular season 10-3 overall and 6-2 in the 4A Mountain West League, winning a league championship for the first time in school history. The Demons’ six-game winning streak was snapped on Saturday with a 9-7 loss at Telluride.
“I was surprised that the Telluride loss didn't bump us down a little bit,” Durango girls lacrosse head coach Eric Elliot said. “But, Telluride, they're a good team, and so I didn't think it would drop us that much; it wound up not dropping us at all. We've been holding on to that ninth spot pretty well for the last five or six weeks. Believe it or not, Telluride Fruita and Grand Junction are all top 16 teams. So, with the exception of Montrose, every team in our league is hosting a playoff game. That seems pretty good for lacrosse on the Western Slope.”
The Demons are powered by an ultra-balanced offense with six girls over 20 points. Senior Silvie Bosmans leads the team with 32 points (29 points and three assists), junior Taylor Babcock has 31 points (27 goals, four assists) and senior Sofia Naffziger has 30 points (23 goals and seven assists). Senior goalie Fiona Chandler is one of top goalies in the state and has a save percentage of 57.1 %.
Durango averaged 10.4 goals per game in the regular season.
St. Mary’s Academy finished 5-9 overall and 1-3 in the 4A East League. The Wildcats lost four of their last five games and averaged 7.4 goals per game for the entire season.
Junior India Phoenix leads the Wildcats with 46 goals and 11 assists.
The two teams only shared one opponent in Telluride. St. Mary’s Academy lost 18-5 while Durango went 2-1 against Telluride.
Elliot is excited for his team to potentially get back into the win column and he hopes his team plays their style of lacrosse.
The winner will play against No. 8 Aspen on Thursday at 6 p.m. at Aspen High School.
Boys lacrosse makes state playoffs for first time this decade
No. 22-seeded Durango boys lacrosse team will play at No. 11 Battle Mountain at 6 p.m. on Tuesday in the 4A state playoffs.
The Demons finished the season 6-8 overall and 4-6 in the 4A Mountain League under first-year head coach Valeria Skarbek. It’s Durango’s first state playoff appearance since 2017. The Demons won five games in the previous four seasons combined.
Durango won four of its final five games of the regular season to make it into the playoffs. The Demons averaged 8.6 goals per game (including a 1-0 forfeit win).
Senior JT Munger led the Durango offense with 31 goals and 54 assists, good for 85 points, which was sixth best in 4A. Fellow Demon senior Owen Muraro led Durango with 50 goals and added 17 assists. Senior goalie Alex Gnehm had a save percentage of 68.6%.
Battle Mountain enters the matchup after finishing the regular season 7-7 overall and 3-3 in the 4A Western League. The Huskies won their last three games of the regular season after losing six consecutive games in the middle of the season.
The Huskies are led by senior No. 7 Joseph Dekanich’s 17 goals and 25 assists. Junior Carter Shonk, wearing No. 4, added 29 goals and eight assists and senior Keelan Losa, wearing No. 19, added 25 goals and 10 assists. Junior Jordan Jimenez played the most minutes as goalie for Battle Mountain and had a save percentage of 51.7%
Durango and Battle Mountain had a few common opponents in the regular season. Durango lost to Fruita Monument twice, 20-8 and 12-8, while Battle Mountain lost 7-5. Both teams beat Summit 14-6; Battle Mountain beat Glenwood Springs 13-1 and Durango lost to Glenwood Springs 19-7.
The winner will play No. 6 Golden on Friday at 5 p.m.
