SAN MIGUEL COUNTY – It’s been said that the best offense is a strong defense.
And though Durango had already shown match-hosting Telluride plenty of the former in building a 4-0 lead going into halftime Tuesday at wind-wracked Judy Long Memorial Field, an ideal example of the latter may have been what truly put the Demons on the fast track to a 9-nil road win.
And after being substituted in during the pause for starting goalkeeper Ryne Neiman, junior Riley Dastrup didn’t have to wait long to make what was essentially the save of the day.
THS’ best first-half chance had come when senior Taylor Carlson launched a 25-yard shot just over Neiman in the 30th minute. The Miners’ best opportunity overall came within the first two minutes of the second half. Dastrup, however, kept DHS’ sheet clean by denying sophomore Lexton Gregory a breakaway goal with a kick save.
“That was, like, the play of the game right there,” Durango head coach Melissa Halonen said. “It could have cost us a shutout, but (Dastrup) was right there focused. And that’s hard to do, to come in the second half and right away have to make a play like that. Riley did well.”
Quickly capitalizing upon the morale boost, senior Mason Rowland promptly finished breakaway tries in the 44th and 46th minutes – assisted by senior Riley Campbell and junior Emery Miller. Rowland then headed in junior Sarah Somrak’s 53rd-minute corner. After that, Rowland accidentally hooked a Campbell return pass low, around and through several players – including surprised Telluride goalie Jayden Fortner – in the 55th, to increase DHS’ lead to 8-0.
Assisted by junior Sydney Ryan, junior Addie Gross netted the Demons’ ninth goal in the 66th minute. Despite totaling six corners and 47 shots-on-goal, Durango couldn’t mercy-rule THS as Fortner – under siege from start to finish in the Miners’ long-awaited home opener – totaled a jaw-dropping 36 saves.
“You know, Durango’s a great team. You can’t take anything away from Durango. But also … I think we know that we’re better than that,” said Telluride head coach Ramon Rodriguez. “With all the circumstances – coming off a two-week break, vacation time, no practice, and playing that tough of a team – we just didn’t have our soccer legs underneath us.”
“We take what we can get, and today was a good performance,” Halonen said. “We like to play possession, and I feel like that’s what we did. We connected passes, created some chances in the final third – headers and all that kind of stuff – by working on runs into the box, and it came to fruition. The girls played well.”
“Even though it was, like, an easier game, we’ve still got to play our game,” Miller said. “We’ll put away as many as we can, but we’ve still got to play our game.”
On a chilly afternoon, the Demons (6-2 overall, 4-1 4A/5A Southwestern) broke the ice just six minutes in when Rowland threw in from the far sideline to Campbell, who then slipped a pass to Miller for a backside finish.
Seeking something similar in the 11th, Rowland again threw deep into Telluride’s 18, but Fortner was able to smack it away. However, DHS senior Sophie Ragsdale was positioned perfectly to volley the deflection back into the exposed net. Rowland then increased the advantage to 3-0 by heading home sophomore Bella Saren’s 21st-minute corner. Miller then buried a penalty kick – resulting from Fortner sacrificing herself to obstruct Miller’s 1-v-1 rush – in the 33rd.
With its missed passes having enough pace on the high-speed artificial pitch to require stopping by Fortner, Durango piled up a 26-1 shots-on-goal advantage before intermission, and outshot THS 36-3 before the break.
Neiman made two saves during the first half. Dastrup was not challenged again after recording her one as Telluride (3-4, 0-1 2A Intermountain-South) totaled just four shots and three on frame.
Up next, the Demons will resume SWL play at 5 p.m. Friday by hosting Montrose (6-4, 1-4 SWL). Durango will then host Telluride for a rematch at 5 p.m. on Tuesday.
“We play Montrose on Friday, and that hopefully should be a good game,” Miller said. “We’re hoping to come out with a win, and then have a big week next week.”
“I think we enter every game, every training session, getting a little better than we were the day before,” Halonen said. “We want to create space for each other, possess the ball, make good runs, and we’ll continue to work on all that.”
