Durango played inspired soccer the entire second half, but many of the Demons’ scoring chances went wide of the goal. Skyline made the most out of its golden opportunity.
No. 9 Durango High School fell 1-0 to No. 8 Skyline in the second round of the Colorado High School Activities Association Class 4A Boys Soccer Championships on Tuesday in Longmont. Jose Medrano scored in the 63rd minute, and the Falcons held off the Demons the rest of the way to preserve the win and advance to the Class 4A state quarterfinals.
“You gotta be lucky and good this time of year, and you have to create some luck sometimes,” DHS head coach Dalon Parker said. “We just didn’t finish. The opportunities we had, we couldn’t get the ball to go our way. The final ball, final touch, it wouldn’t go our way.”
Skyline was close to being offside on the play leading to Medrano’s goal. The linesman’s flag never went up, and play continued as Medrano fired a shot past DHS goalkeeper Trey Furnas.
“It definitely looked like he was offside, but it’s hard for me to call from so far away from that part of the field,” Parker said. “It looked offsides, but they didn’t call it, so it wasn’t offsides. Therefore, that was a good goal. It’s a situation where everyone can look at it and say that’s the important goal of the game, but Skyline played well. I can’t take anything away from them. They had opportunities as well. They finished one more opportunity than we did.”
Parker estimated that Durango was outshot 14-8 in the match. Durango had a shot to take a lead in the final minute of the first half, as a Demon broke free with only the Skyline keeper to beat, but the goalie made the save.
Parker delivered a passionate halftime speech, and his players responded with dominant play in the opening 10 minutes of the second half, but a pair of good chances for Durango went wide.
DHS finished the season 11-3-2 overall and won a fourth consecutive 4A/5A Intermountain League championship. Tuesday’s loss ended the high school careers of five seniors who helped the team reach the semifinals in 2016.
“The career these seniors put together is very special,” Parker said. “I’m not sure where they stand, but I can say they are in the top two or three most successful classes we’ve had in the program. I hope our returning guys can take that blueprint and make it their own and continue to keep this train moving.
“Thanks to the parents and all the community for their support and backing the last five years. (Assistant coach) David Williams and I have had unbelievable support, and I want to thank the community for that. It’s been a hell of a ride.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
