The Durango Lacrosse Club, along with Durango Parks and Recreation, fielded three boys teams in the San Juan Shootout Lacrosse Tournament in Montrose April 9-10. Two Durango teams reached their division’s championship games, and the third fell in the semifinals.
The Durango seventh-eighth grade boys team started the tournament with a 9-4 win over West Elk (Gunnison) and then took down Montrose, 4-2, on Saturday. The team fell to Grand Valley 7-4 on Sunday, but their overall standings landed them in the semifinals where they squared off with Montrose once again. And once again, Durango scored a win, 6-1, advancing to the championship against Grand Valley. The championship was tight, but Grand Valley prevailed 5-4. Dane Matlock and Hayden Hollister stood out in the front, while River Crossland played tough in goal.
The fifth and sixth grade team had rough first game, falling 10-1 to Grand Valley. The team, however, rebounded by beating West Elk (Gunnison) 7-1 later on Saturday. The team fell to Montrose 3-2 on Sunday morning, but their overall standings landed them in the semifinals, where they played Montrose again. Durango took a big lead in the first half and went on to win the game, 5-2.
In the finals, Durango fell to Grand Valley, 15-1, to finish second. The young team only has a few returning players, but some of its stars in the tournament included Asher Owens, Max Miles and Jerad Lopez, who all scored multiple goals, while Donny Rome stopped shots in goal.
The third-fourth grade boys, meanwhile, lost their first game on Saturday to Grand Valley Green, 7-3, but rallied to win their second game against Montrose, 8-7. On Sunday they fell to Grand Valley White 15-3, but were high enough in the standings to advance to the semifinals. Unfortunately, they met Grand Valley White again, and lost 14-3.
The teams, including Durango’s girls, will compete in four more tournaments, including the Durango Duel May 14-15.
