Senior night at Durango High School for the girls soccer team couldn’t have gone much better on Thursday night.
All four goals in a dominant 4-0 victory for Durango over Grand Junction Central were scored by a senior. All nine of the seniors played and the Demons dominated every aspect of the game en route to Durango’s fifth win in a row and its ninth game since its last loss.
Durango improved to 8-2-3 overall and 3-1-2 in the 4A/5A Southwestern League with the win. Grand Junction Central fell to 3-8-2 overall and 0-6-2 in the 4A/5A Southwestern League with the loss.
“It’s great,” Durango head coach Melissa Halonen said about her team’s performance. “All the seniors got to play and everybody did well. With only seniors scoring that’s awesome. Our whole team is clicking on the field and off the field which is really great.”
Senior Emery Miller had two goals and an assist. Senior Sydney Ryan had a goal and senior Reese Dahly had a goal and an assist. Senior Adde Neiman and junior Emily Mcvaugh each had assists.
Durango tied Grand Junction Central 1-1 on the road on April 13. It was the Demons’ last tie before their current win streak.
Halonen said the Demons have gotten better at moving the ball from left to right which has made it harder for opposing defenses to stay in a packed formation.
Durango controlled possession throughout the first 10 minutes. Junior Lauren McClellan had a great shot and chance from close range but the Grand Junction Central keeper Jasmine Hernandez made a diving save. The Demons had a few more chances in the next 10 minutes but the score remained 0-0 with 20 minutes to go.
Shortly after, Dahly found the back of the net off a corner. The ball made its way through a sea of players before Dahly hit it into the back of the net on the goal line. The Demons went up 1-0 with 19:20 to go in the first half.
Grand Junction Central struggled to maintain possession of the ball and Durango keeper Ryne Neiman was unchallenged for the first 25 minutes of the game. The Warriors couldn’t connect on balls in the air and Durango won most of the 50-50 balls.
The Demons were on the attack with some great combination play in the midfield and a nice through ball to Miller. She then played it back to junior Bella Saren who was taken down while running onto it outside the 18-yard box. The Grand Junction Central player received a yellow card. Saren took the kick and hit the wall of defenders with about 11:30 minutes to go.
Halonen said her back line has figured out how to maintain possession and make good decisions which has led to its dominant play.
Hernandez made two great saves on Durango shots shortly to keep the game 1-0 late in the first half.
The Demons kept possession for the final few minutes but couldn’t get a great look and led 1-0 at half.
At the start of the second half, Durango continued to pressure the Warriors and put shots on goal. Miller got a chance off a quick pass in the midfield and she was off and running. The senior forward raced into the 18-yard box with a one-on-one chance with Hernandez and she finished in the lower left corner to put the Demons up 2-0 with 31 minutes left.
Grand Junction Central controlled some possession in the midfield after the second goal but couldn’t advance the ball far enough to threaten Ryne Neiman.
Miller then capitalized off another Warriors turnover. She received the ball streaking down the right side with Hernandez off her line. Miller placed the ball past Hernandez and it slowly rolled into the left side of the net to put the Demons up 3-0 with 17 minutes left.
“The combination play, especially getting our outside backs involved is what we’ve been working on and what we need,” Halonen said. “I can’t say enough good things about this team right now. They’re working hard, they’re having fun and we look forward to every game we got to play.”
Durango continued to pressure the with its offense. Halonen took Ryne Neiman out of goal and put in senior Anabel Agre. Senior keeper Caitlyn Cox also got in for the last few minutes as Halonen had emptied out her bench.
Ryan finished a nice through ball down the left side into the lower right corner to put Durango up 4-0 with less than two minutes left.
The Demons wrap up the regular season with a home game on Friday at 5:30 p.m.
Although it will be the final home game of the regular season, Durango’s nine seniors should have the chance to play multiple playoff games at Durango High School.
“I coached a lot of these girls when they were in sixth grade,” Halonen said about the Durango seniors. “From sixth, seventh, eighth and now in high school. This was emotionally the most difficult senior night for me because I feel like I’ve watched them grow up. Not only are they great soccer players but they are good people.”
bkelly@durangoherald.com
