The Durango and Bayfield high school girls soccer teams learned their postseason fate Sunday when the Colorado High School Activities Association’s playoff brackets were released.
Both teams will hit the road for the first round of the playoffs, as the two programs received the 22nd seed in their respective brackets.
In Class 4A, Durango will play at No. 11 Pueblo Centennial at 6 p.m. Wednesday, while in Class 3A, Bayfield will head to Colorado Springs to face No. 11 St. Mary’s on Wednesday. Time of the Bayfield match has yet to be determined.
“Looking at their record and who’ve they played, I think it’s a good seeding for us,” DHS head coach Robert Logan said of playing Pueblo Centennial. “Pueblo is not as strong as Colorado Springs or the Denver area, and that doesn’t mean that they’re bad, but when you get into the Denver area the level of competition is a lot stronger.
“We ended up being 22nd and playing No. 11. ... They’re not the top five or six, and really anything from 10 up it depends on the day.”
Logan also expressed confidence in the Demons’ ability to hang with anyone in the state after their strong performance in league play against Fruita Monument, which received the No. 4 seed in the Class 5A bracket.
Logan doesn’t have much info on the Bulldogs (14-1-0) yet, but plans to spend plenty of time in researching their style of play and what the Demons (6-7-1) can expect when the two teams meet Wednesday.
Pueblo Centennial has outscored opponents 110-10 this season. Freshman Alli Jones leads the team with 29 goals to go with 17 assists, which ranks second on the team. Fellow freshman Lainee Vujcich has 23 goals and 11 assists, and junior Kinley Carter has netted 21 goals with 16 assists.
Defensively, the Bulldogs have only allowed 45 shots on goal this season, with junior Shyanne Bauer spending most of the time in goal with a save percentage of 80.
The Demons have been more modest in their attack and have only scored 27 goals this season, led by senior Taylor Klone’s five goals. The strength of the Demons has been their defense, which has allowed only 1.78 goals per match this season.
The long bus trip to Pueblo for the match isn’t ideal, but long bus rides aren’t anything new to the Demons, who have made multiple trips of four-plus hours to get to league matches in Fruita, Grand Junction and Montrose this season.
“Those were actually our shorter trips,” Logan said. “We went to Colorado Springs twice and Denver once, so we’ve gone longer. We’ve traveled all season and only had four home games. Our short trips are two hours away, and our long trips are eight hours away. So taking a five and a half hour bus trip won’t be a huge deal for us.”
Where Durango enters the playoffs with almost no previous knowledge of its opponent, Bayfield (8-6-1) has first-hand experience with St. Mary’s (11-3-1). The two teams met earlier this season, with the Pirates picking up a 5-0 victory on March 17 in Colorado Springs.
“We played against them early in the season when we didn’t have our full team, and we know how they play,” BHS head coach Jen Moore said. “They’re not super aggressive or anything like that, just super routine. They know how to play it across the back, they have good foot skills, pass it well and they wait. They’re very composed and wait to get a good shot.
“I’m hoping we can go up there and play aggressive and pass it well, and if nothing else it will be a good game.”
Moore said she was hoping BHS would have been seeded a little higher, as the team was 21st in the final RPI standings, but that would have set up a first-round match with league foe Alamosa.
“I know (CHSAA) takes into consideration and they don’t want teams playing someone else from the same league,” she said. “I think that’s part of the reason that happened and we’re happy to make it into the playoffs no matter what.”
St. Mary’s has outscored its opponents 82-10 this season with a balanced attach that has seen four players reach double-digit goals scored. Junior Mary Brummel leads the team with 17 goals, followed by sophomore Cassidy Sorensen’s 15 goals, senior Marisa Shigio with 12 and sophomore Isabella Thomas with 10.
Bayfield’s offense has been anchored by senior Savannah Kaufmann, who has scored 24 of the Wolverines’ 48 goals this season. She also ranks first on the team with nine assists.
BHS missed the state tournament last season, and Moore said the return to the playoffs has given the Wolverines a boost after having to stay home in 2017.
“They’re definitely excited, especially the seniors,” Moore said. “We were hoping with the tie (against Crested Butte Saturday) we’d be in the playoffs, but it was kind of a sit and waiting game to see what else happened around the state. But they’re pumped and hopefully they can used that to their advantage.”
kschneider@durangoherald.com
