The Skiers scored quickly.
But the visiting Demons had some Quick goals of their own.
The Aspen High School girls lacrosse team started Friday afternoons game against Durango with an avalanche of three super-fast goals and a quick 3-0 lead.
Durango, with a hat trick from freshman Sophia Quick, then scored seven consecutive goals before holding off a late Aspen rally to beat the Skiers 7-5 in an entertaining match at sun-soaked Iselin Field.
Aspens Nina Christensen stunned the Demons with a goal in the second minute of play.
Aspen teammate Shannon Turbidy potted back-to-back goals with the Skiers controlling the early possession.
The momentum started to turn Durangos way when Quick scored her first goal, assisted by her sister, senior Hannah Quick, cutting Aspens lead to 3-1 late in the first half.
With the Demons controlling possession, they struck for six more goals to open the second half, including two more from Sophia Quick.
A frantic late charge for the Skiers reduced Durangos lead to 7-4 when Sarah Chiles scored with 14 seconds to play.
And the Skiers werent done.
Turbidy scored again after the Skiers won the draw. Her goal with six seconds left cut the lead to 7-5.
But there were no more quick goals for Aspen.
And no more Quick goals for Durango, who settled for her hat trick and a victory.
It was exciting at the end, Aspen head coach Lauren Riddick said. At the last timeout, I told them you still have time on the clock. You still have to be positive. You still have to play as a team.
Trubidys third goal of the game followed.
We were just talking about our confidence, Riddick said. We talked about playing as a team the first few minutes of the game and the last few minutes of the game.
In between, she said, We were more individual.
Translation: Goals for Durango; no goals for Aspen.
Riddick said the team did a good job rallying late. But, she said, the Skiers gave up too many scoring opportunities in the middle.
Durango also collected two goals from Tymbree Hawkins, along with single goals by Haley Dallas and Sara Martin as the Demons improved to 6-7.
I was so glad Sara Martin got that (second-half) goal because she does so much work in the midfield, Durango head coach Jenni Darlow said. She is so speedy in the midfield; she doesnt always ger the credit she deserves because she doesnt show up in the stats.
Darlow said the Demons played much cleaner lacrosse in the second half, including some of their best stretches of the season.
It started off really rocky. Our first eight shots were really bad shots, Darlow said. But we cleaned it up, and we finally put the things together that we needed to.
Still, the Demons were nervous when Aspen scored twice in the last 14 seconds.
They are fast. We knew it was possible (for Aspen to score again), the Durango coach said. Luckily, we built enough of a lead.
She said fundamental execution helped the Demons during their 7-0 run.
It was the basic skills. You have to make good passes, make clean catches, play tough defense, smart defense, said Darlow, checking statistics that revealed 27 forced turnovers by Durango.
That is awesome, Darlow said.
The win particularly was special because of the four one-goal losses the Demons experienced this year along with a two-goal loss.
We needed this so much. I really dont think we could have handled giving this game away after building such a lead, Darlow said. Its been a trying season emotionally with those close losses. We really, really needed this.
Durango will play Steamboat Springs on Saturday.
Aspen, meanwhile, will host Eagle Valley in the final regular-season game of the season at 11 a.m. Saturday.
The Skiers late comeback against Durango will help, Riddick said, along with memories of Thursday nights dominating 17-6 victory over Summit in Frisco.
dstrode@aspentimes.com
