A familiar script played out for the Durango boys soccer team against No. 1 seed Mullen in the 4A state quarterfinals. Durango has allowed a late goal in the second half in many of the Demons’ losses this season. It happened again at the worst time. Mullen capitalized on a set piece with less than 15 minutes to go to send the Mustangs into the semifinals with a 2-1 victory.
Volleyball’s exit from the playoffs wasn’t as exciting. The Demons lost 3-0 to both No. 4 Legend and No. 21 Ralston Valley over the weekend in the Region 4 Regional.
Ninth-seeded Durango boys soccer finished its season 12-3-3 overall and 7-1-2 in the 4A/5A Southwestern League. Mullen improved to 14-2-2 overall and is on to the state semifinals.
“I'm just really proud of them,” Durango boys soccer head coach Sean Ackerman said. “The main thing we've been pushing all season long is giving your best effort and they did that to the highest level in that game. Obviously disappointing and heartbreaking that it ends now, but there are a lot of positives we could take away from this season and be proud of the achievements we accomplished.”
Ackerman and his staff knew Mullen was as successful as it was because of its ability on set pieces. The Mustangs’ outside backs could throw the ball into the 18-yard box from 30 to 40 yards away, making a lot of throw-ins feel like corner kicks.
On these set pieces, Ackerman said Mullen had some big players in the box and the Mustangs had set plays to get their guys open.
Ackerman said his squad was a bit frantic in the beginning and Mullen capitalized on a set piece early on. A few Mullen players stacked up in front of Durango junior goalkeeper Quinn Harrison which made it hard for Harrison to make a move on the ball. The corner kick came in and a Mustang found the ball on the back post and headed it into the bottom corner for a 1-0 lead about 10 minutes into the game. Mullen took that 1-0 lead into halftime.
“I told them to just to relax,” Ackerman said at halftime. “We were definitely frantic in a lot of our clearances, which is why we were allowing them to get those opportunities instead of just taking a second to get a foot through it or try to connect any passes. There was some lack of composure in the first half with nerves.”
Ackerman also switched Durango’s formation at halftime from a 4-2-3-1 to a 3-5-2 to help pressure Mullen’s back line.
The Demons found the back of the net about 20 minutes into the second half. Senior defender Duncan Madrigal played a free kick from about 35 yards out which found junior forward Dylan Burns in the box. Burns finished the play with a diving header to tie the game at 1-1.
There was some bad timing for Durango when it allowed Mullen’s second goal. Burns had to come out with blood on his jersey, which Ackerman said took too long to take care of. Senior defenseman Cooper Gray also had to come out because of concussion protocol and had to wait five minutes.
During this time, a Mullen defender had a long throw-in that bounced around in front of the goal and was finished by a Mustang with about 10 minutes to go.
Ackerman said he’ll remember how tight this group was and it really showed in the six days Durango stayed up in Denver.
The Demons will lose a lot of senior contributors like midfielder Mavrick Rodriguez, defenders Flint Gervais, Gray, Madrigal and others. But Durango will return star junior forward Dylan Burns, junior goalkeeper Quinn Harrison and other players who got consistent minutes.
“We've got a lot of potential and there's a lot of positive outlooks for the future,” Ackerman said. “The thing about Durango is we're always going to have a massive graduating class. The question always comes up: ‘How are you going to replace this guy? This will continue. I want to thank the seniors for what they've done. They've been tremendous players and all that, but the program will continue on as it always does. We've got a lot of potential coming up.”
Volleyball finished its season 10-15 overall and 3-7 in the 4A/5A Southwestern League after Durango’s 14-25, 13-25, 15-25 loss to Legend and its 22-25, 21-25, 21-25 loss to Ralston Valley. The Demons lost eight of their last nine games.
Senior Avery Rike and junior Hadyn Neiman each had seven kills against Legend. Senior setter Eva Stewart had 10 assists.
Neiman led the way with nine kills against Ralston Valley. Rike had eight kills in her last high school volleyball match. Stewart had 23 assists in her final match.
The Demons lose a four-year starter in Stewart and a multiyear quality player in Rike. Stella James was a quality middle-blocker and Tyler Trujillo had some good moments in an injury-filled last two years.
Neiman will return for her senior year and should be a leader. Aysia Mathews will be a senior and could make a great comeback. Devyn Edwards will return for her sophomore year and has a lot of potential. Mia Carozza showed a lot of promise and will return as libero.
Durango has the potential to bounce back next year and compete at the top of the league again.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
