Durango boys lacrosse’s game against Montrose on Saturday afternoon was following a similar script to the Demons’ previous game against Crested Butte. Durango led both games throughout the first two quarters before Montrose made a comeback in the third quarter.

However, the Demons finished the job on Saturday unlike against Crested Butte. Durango scored four straight goals to finish the third quarter and cruised to a 16-9 victory.

Durango improved to 2-6 overall and 1-5 in the 4A Mountain League with the win. Montrose fell to 0-9 overall with the loss.

“It was a team win,” Durango head coach Luke Miller said. “Everybody played, everybody stepped up and did their job throughout the game. We had some trouble at the beginning at the faceoff but Walker (Jones) stepped up throughout the game and started taking over at the faceoff x and that changed things for us. Their attack is their offense for the most part and our defense made it really hard for them today.”

Junior JT Munger led the Demons with five goals and five assists. Senior Logan Gurule had three goals, sophomore Henry Huff had two goals and senior Cruz Martinez had two goals too.

Backup goalie freshman Dante Devitre played the whole game with senior starter Henry Howe out with a finger injury he suffered in the Crested Butte game. Devitre finished with 13 saves.

“He really stepped up the last week in practice,” Miller said. “That was his challenge and he stepped up and got better each day in practice and was ready to go.”

Munger opened up scoring for the Demons with a great shot that connected with the top of the net. Munger then drove down the left alley and finished low to put Durango up 2-0 with 5:44 to go in the first quarter.

After a great check by senior Owen Carozza, Munger got the ball again and fired a shot into the top right corner to put the Demons up 3-0 with 4:20 left.

“It’s a big deal,” Miller said about Munger’s play. “When you have a midfielder that can initiate, it starts everything else. It’s really nice to see he was also distributing the ball and not just shooting every time.”

Montrose responded with two straight goals. But Durango finished the quarter strong and was dominant on faceoffs. Martinez scored towards the end of the first quarter to put Durango up 4-2 after one.

Munger continued his strong start and scored low to put Durango up 5-2 with 10:15 to go. Montrose responded quickly with a dodge and score down the right alley to cut the Durango lead to 5-3 with 9:57 to go in the second.

Durango had a lot of success attacking from the top. Henry Huff drove down the right alley and finished low to put Durango up 6-3 with eight minutes to go in the second.

Carozza did a great job in the first half with checking and getting the ball past midfield either with a good pass or his legs.

After a failed clear by the Demons defense, Montrose got the ball back and finished from the right side to cut the Durango lead to 6-4 with 3:17 left in the first half. But the Demons quickly responded and Logan Gurule had a finish inside off the faceoff to put Durango up 7-4 with three minutes to go.

Montrose got the ball a man up off an illegal bodycheck. Devitre made an initial save but couldn’t hold onto it and Montrose finished on the putback around the crease. Durango led 7-5 at half.

The third quarter started off fast and furious. Off the faceoff, Munger drove and fed Bradin Gurule for an easy score from the crease 15 seconds in. On the following faceoff, Montrose got the faceoff and scored quickly to make the game 8-6 Durango with 11 minutes left in the third.

Montrose scored again with a bounce shot to make it 8-7 but Durango won the next faceoff and Huff finished off a pass from Munger to push the Durango lead to 9-7 with seven minutes left in the third.

Both teams turned the ball over before Munger caught the ball, made a great swim dodge at half field and fed an open Durango attacker on the crease for the score to put the Demons up 10-7 with six to go in the third.

Logan Gurule finished off a Durango clear to put the Demons up 11-7 with four minutes to go. Both teams struggled at times to keep possession which resulted in counter attacks. Durango was able to convert more on its attacks and that’s what led to the Demons extending their lead.

Munger dodged from the top and ripped one which hit the crossbar and went in to put the Demons up 12-7, a lead they’d take into the third quarter.

Durango kept its lead in the fourth quarter with good ball movement and defense which led to some fastbreaks. The Demons stretched the lead to seven at multiple times and finished the game up 16-9.

“The guys took that last loss to heart,” Miller said. “They did not want to see that happen again. We were able to get a little deeper in our bench to keep some guys fresh going into that fourth quarter. We were just able to outwork the other team in that last quarter.”

Durango is back in action at home against Battle Mountain on Wednesday at 4 p.m.

bkelly@durangoherald.com