For the first 30 minutes of Thursday’s Durango High School boys lacrosse game, the Demons looked like they’d already skipped town for spring break.
After annihilating Sandia Prep 20-1 on Wednesday, Durango fell behind early to a winless Telluride squad. When the Demons finally woke up, they ran off eight consecutive third-quarter goals and cruised to a 12-5 win.
Kyle Robinette and Jackson Steigelman led the way with three goals for the Demons, while Cullen Robinette, Tommy Rodgers and Ryan Smith added two.
“I tried to tell these guys, when I saw them slacking in warmups, that we have to be ready for (Telluride),” Durango head coach John Robinette said. “They always play us tough no matter what it says on paper or what the records are, and we got caught going through the motions.”
It was a completely dominant second half for Durango (4-3, 2-1 Mountain League), with eight consecutive scores, but far more difficult than it should have been after a sluggish start. Kyle Robinette’s first goal of the day was the Demons’ only tally in the opening half, but one DHS player was sharp from the outset – goalie Andrew Brown.
If not for a hero’s effort between the pipes in the first half from Brown, Telluride would have grabbed a sizable lead heading into halftime. Instead, Brown’s seven first-half stops kept his team in the game when the offense was absent, and Durango only trailed 2-1.
“At halftime, the seniors were saying that it was their last game against Telluride and it kind of woke the rest of us up,” said freshman Cullen Robinette, son of John and Tracy Robinette. “One of the things I’ve learned this year is that we don’t lose to Telluride. We just can’t lose to Telluride.”
After some team bonding and an inspired halftime speech from the coach lit a fire under the Demons, the third quarter outburst was there for the taking.
It was Telluride, however, that came out and added a quick goal to start the second half to take a two-goal lead, but that was all the Demons needed to see.
Cullen Robinette and Smith found the net for DHS to tie the game. The Miners (0-5, 0-3 Mountain League) got one back to take a 4-3 lead. Then the Demons got the jolt they were looking for. Durango scored the game’s next eight goals to completely turn the tables on the visitors and take a commanding lead. Jackson Steigelman had three of the eight goals, all of which came in the final quarter.
“We definitely started off flat, and there was just no intensity in anything we were doing out there,” said Jackson Steigelman, son of Susan Furry and Jay Steigelman. “We got way too confident in ourselves after (Wednesday’s) game, and we underestimated Telluride. Coach gave us that pump up speech at halftime and that’s all we needed.”
Brown played the whole game in net and finished with 12 saves. Jeb Steigelman also had a goal for Durango.
The Demons will be back in action after spring break with a 4 p.m. April 8 game at Fruita Monument.
jfries@durangoherald.com
