There was no better way for the Durango Demons to bounce back from a loss against Aspen than with a matchup against a developing program.
The Durango High School boys lacrosse team hammered Sandia Prep of New Mexico 20-1 in a home game Wednesday. New Mexico still does not have officially sanctioned boys lacrosse through the New Mexico Activities Association, and the Sandia Prep is still up-and-coming.
“We always try to help those guys out by getting them a game,” DHS head coach John Robinette said. “I’ve been on both ends of those types of games. My time at Fort Lewis, we played BYU and Colorado and would lose by 20 goals, but it always made us a better team.”
Action started quickly Wednesday, as the Demons raced down the field and scored 15 seconds after the opening faceoff. Sandia Prep (5-1) answered right back only eight seconds later, but the Demons went on a 19-0 run the rest of the match.
Kyle Robinette led the team with four goals and four assists for eight points. DHS senior Oaken Oles also had four goals and one assist.
Adding two goals each for the Demons was Corbin Randle, Cullen Robinette, Tommy Rodgers and Jeb Steigelman. Cullen Robinette also had four assists, and Rodgers had five assists.
Also scoring for Durango was Collin Barkley, Max Ickes, Ryan Smith and Jackson Steigelman.
Durango’s Easton Verduzco won 13-of-16 faceoffs and led the team with nine groundballs.
Andrew Brown was sharp in warmups for the Demons and started in goal. He played one half before giving way to Dylan Gaver. Brown was rarely tested, and Gaver made two saves.
“We’re starting to hit our stride. We’ve had good scheduling,” coach Robinette said.
Durango will face Telluride at 4 p.m. Thursday before getting some time off for spring break. After the layoff, Durango will have eight games to go in the regular season.
“Telluride has never beat us, but they are a good team and they always believe they can beat us,” coach Robinette said. “It should be a good game, but, on paper, we should be able to win. We need to execute the little things.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
