A fifth consecutive league championship was ripped away from the Durango High School boys soccer team Friday night.
Up against rival Montrose, the winner of Friday night’s game in Durango would walk away as the 5A/4A Southwestern League champion. The Demons were in pursuit of a fifth consecutive league title and looked to be the better team much of the night. But two Durango goals were taken off the scoreboard by the referees, and Montrose was awarded a crucial penalty kick in the second half while DHS did not receive a penalty kick of its own for an even more dangerous play in the goal box later in the match.
In the end, the penalty kick by Montrose in the 47th minute would stand as the game-winning goal to give the Indians a 2-1 win that sent the team celebrating on the home turf of the Demons (10-5, 5-3 SWL).
“It’s really hard for a game to end like this,” DHS head coach Aaron Champenoy said. “I never want to blame a ref for a game. It’s hard when you play as hard as our guys did for it to end like that when you feel like you scored some goals and have them taken away.”
Montrose head coach Cassie Snyder said her team benefited from some of the calls.
“That was one of the craziest games I’ve ever been part of,” she said. “Both teams were dodging bullets. There were a lot of crazy calls from the refs on both ends. it was a battle, a flat-out battle.”
Durango raced out to a 1-0 lead after being called for offsides five times during early scoring chances. It was a corner kick in the 23rd minute from Ryan Bell that found the head of Sayer Frontella that gave the Demons the lead, as Frontella sent a blast past Montrose goalkeeper Greg Sheya, who had made a handful of saves early on.
Montrose (9-6, 6-2 SWL) would tie the match before halftime, as Durango goalkeeper Levi Larson raced out of the goal but was beat to the ball by Montrose star senior Sean Alex, who rocketed a shot past Larson in the 29th minute.
Durango had some chances in the final minutes of the half but couldn’t put a shot away.
It was only seven minutes into the second half when Montrose received its penalty kick, as Bryan Delgado was taken down in the penalty box. The Demons didn’t like the call, and no card was issued for the foul. Alex stepped to the penalty spot and buried it past Larson for the go-ahead goal.
“I saw my buddy go down in the corner and knew it was a (penalty),” Alex said. “I said, ‘Do you want to take it or me?’ He pointed at me, and all the pressure was on me. I picked a spot I was gonna go to and wasn’t going to change because that’s how you miss. It went in.”
Durango looked to answer when Frontella scored. It came moments after there was a collision between a Durango attacking player and the Montrose goalie. The head referee did not call a foul and play resumed, but after Frontella scored, the assistant referee signaled for a goal kick and the goal was taken away.
Durango had another chance in the 52nd minute, but the ball was cleared off the goal line by a Montrose defender just before crossing in for a goal.
Later in the half, Frontella was taken out in the goal box by a slide tackle from behind. No foul was whistled for what would have awarded Durango a penalty kick.
The final outrage for Durango came when Aiden Arujo appeared to have scored for Durango. He got his toe on a ball and sent it high in the air. It cleared the head of the Montrose goalie and found the back of the net. Moments later, it was again the assistant referee who called the head referee over to the sideline to wave off the goal for an offsides call.
“It took a couple of lucky calls, I’ll tell ya that,” Alex said of his team’s win. “I think they scored twice, and it was just God was on our side or something. My mom was looking down. I love it.”
Durango frantically searched for an equalizing goal to force overtime, but a couple of free kick chances never developed before the final whistle.
Now, Montrose is likely to host a home state playoff game Wednesday, while the Demons will have to hit the road.
“We were 19 coming into this one, and we will probably drop,” Champenoy said. “I’d like to go to Pueblo, but we will probably end up in Colorado Springs.”
State brackets for the CHSAA Class 4A Boys Soccer Championships will be released Sunday afternoon.
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
