The Durango High School boys soccer team needed a win to keep hopes of a 5A/4A Southwestern League title alive, and the Demons provided one in a big way with a 3-0 victory against Grand Junction on Saturday morning at DHS.
“We came in and we played together, and that was the big thing,” DHS head coach Dalon Parker said. “We played together and we were consistent. That’s something we haven’t been for 80 minutes all season, being consistent. I’m super proud of them for being consistent and coming in and taking what we practiced and putting it into effect.”
It was the second meeting between the two teams this season. The Tigers (11-2, 5-1 SWL) topped Durango 1-0, thanks to a goal in the second overtime, on Sept. 16 in Grand Junction.
Parker said a big key to Saturday’s win was the fact that the Demons (8-2-2, 4-1-1 SWL) had a few days of practice between games to clean up some of the issues that have given them trouble in previous weeks.
“For the first time this season, we got consistent days of practice. Our schedule has been brutal, and we as an athletic staff and coaches need to do a better job with the way we schedule games,” Parker said. “It’s been a detriment to our team. We’ve always known they can play this way, so after getting five practices in a row instead of learning by games, this is the product we can put on the field.”
The Demons didn’t have many scoring chances in the win but converted the ones they got at a high rate. On the day, DHS had five good looks at goal and converted three of them.
Elijah Fenton got the scoring started in the opening minutes of the match, converting a penalty kick to give the Demons a 1-0 advantage about six minutes into the match.
About 11 minutes into the second half, the ball fell to Lance Townsend near the top of the box. The junior gathered the ball and turned to face goal. Seeing no one between him and the keeper, Townsend put a quick shot past the Grand Junction keeper to make it 2-0.
With the victory all but secured, Fenton and Max Wilson put the exclamation point on the match with about six minutes remaining.
On a counterattack, Fenton received the ball beyond the top of the box and got a defender to bite on a hesitation move. Fenton took the ball to the right side of the goal and chipped a crossing pass over the reach of the Tigers’ keeper to the far post for Wilson to head home.
Durango’s midfield, back line and keeper Trey Furnas were brilliant in the win and limited the Tigers to a handful of scoring chances. Parker credited the cohesion of the team with the shutout of Grand Junction, a team that has averaged 4.5 goals per match heading into Saturday.
“Our shape. We had been lost in our shape leading up to this game, and the funny thing about soccer is there are so many players out there but all it takes is one to be exposed,” Parker said. “I felt like all season that because we didn’t have those practices everyone didn’t know what to do and what situations to do things in. In this game, you saw a team that was in shape and knew what to do.”
The Demons will need some help to win the league title. Grand Junction still sits atop the table with 15 points and the Tigers will have to lose or draw one of its final two matches while the Demons need to win out for Durango to get the title.
Should Durango win out and Grand Junction draw one of its final two matches to finish tied with the Demons in the standings, Durango would win the league based on goal differential in head-to-head matches.
The two teams will close out the season against Montrose (9-2-1, 3-1-1 SWL) and Grand Junction Central (1-11, 0-5 SWL). Durango will play both matches at DHS while the Tigers final two matches will be on the road.
First up for the Demons will be Montrose on Oct. 14 at DHS.
kschneider@durangoherald.com
