The road was brutal for the Durango High school boys lacrosse team over the weekend, as the Demons dropped two in a row to two Utah schools in Timpview and Pleasant Grove.
The Demons lost to Timpview 9-8 in overtime Friday, then lost to Pleasant Grove 11-3 on Saturday.
“We had some tired legs and we were banged up,” Durango head coach John Robinette said in a phone interview with The Durango Herald. “It was a quick turnaround. We had some guys out ,so we had a short bench. They were good teams, though.”
Durango (5-6, 2-3 Mountain League) was up 8-5 with five minutes left to go in regulation against the Timpview Thunderbirds, but the Demons let the Thunderbirds capitalize on mistakes. Timpview (4-4-1) was able to score two goals to pull within one, then, with 49 seconds left, the Thunderbirds tied the game to push it into overtime.
In overtime, Timpview won the faceoff. Durango was quickly called for a penalty, which put the Demons down a man. Durango did its best to hold off Timpview’s attack, but it wasn’t enough, as the Thunderbirds scored the winning goal.
“We made some mental mistakes,” Robinette said. “We had some shots hit the post a couple times, but we gave them too many opportunities, too.”
Durango had two crucial penalties in the final three minutes of regulation and finished the game with five penalties. In those five penalties, Timpview managed to score twice.
Durango was 0-for-3 on man-up plays.
Durango junior Kyle Robinette led the Demons with six goals, 11 ground balls and was 5-for-7 on faceoffs. Robinette currently sits in fourth place in the state with 52 points. He is second with 35 goals and ranks seventh with 17 assists.
Durango’s Andrew Brown had eight saves at goalie, while Timpview outshot Durango 33-22 in the game.
Losing in overtime was crushing for the Demons, who then faced the Pleasant Grove Vikings only to lose 11-3. Pleasant Grove started out hot, going up 2-0 in the first quarter even though Durango outshot Pleasant Grove 11-6.
Pleasant Grove (3-3) then turned on the pressure as the Vikings outscored Durango 6-1 in the second quarter.
In the game, Pleasant Grove ended up outshooting Durango 30-23. It was a sloppy game all around as both teams had 10 penalties each.
Collin Barkley had two goals with Robinette netting one. Tommy Rodgers had two assists and Cullen Robinette added one of his own.
Brown started the game and allowed four goals before being replaced by Dylan Gaver, who finished with nine saves.
Durango will have the next 12 days off, as the Demons won’t play again until April 28 when they play three games in a row to finish the season. Durango will host Glenwood Springs on April 28, then Grand Junction on April 29, before it will travel to Montrose on April 30.
The Demons will need to win out the rest of the season if they want to play in the postseason. Durango currently sits at the 11th spot in the Class 4A Colorado High School Activities Association rankings where the top 16 teams advance.
“We look forward to rest some guys up and get back at it for the rest of the season and get into a playoff spot,” coach Robinette said. “We just need to get rest and get healthy. We need to get some second- and third-string guys to step up and contribute more. We must tighten up on defense. We can put the ball in the net, we just need to not allow other teams to score.”
jmentzer@durangoherald.com
