The Durango High School boys soccer team got five goals from five players Tuesday to beat the visiting Pagosa Springs Pirates 5-0.
“I’m always happy with a 5-0 win,” said DHS head coach Danny Suits. “Our defenders were solid, and it was nice to get some new players in the mix.”
The coach also said the team had “a nice balance” on offense. “We have a lot of depth that we’re trying to leverage it,” he said. “We’re focused on making sure everyone is ready to go.”
The Demons didn’t waste any time. About one minute into the game, Sam Persing got taken down in Pagosa’s goal box and awarded a penalty kick. Persing then buried his shot to put DHS up 1-0.
“It’s always good to get the first one out of the way and create some momentum,” Suits said.
The Demons continued to attack and scored three more goals in the first half.
Teryk Webber assisted Davis Cameron about 13 minutes into the game. Cameron’s shot was deflected by a Pagosa defender, but had enough juice to roll into the net.
Webber then scored, with an assist from Persing, to give the Demons a 3-0 lead.
The Demons’ fourth goal of the half came after Lucas Foster played a nice ball in behind Pagosa’s defense. Mavrick Rodriguez received the pass in stride, dribbled by Pagosa’s goalie and scored in an empty net.
The Demons continued attacking in the second half but had several shots hit the cross bar or miss just wide or high. Cedar Newman created a few scoring chances for DHS with his ball control.
One Pirate was also able to get by Durango’s defenders, but goalie Fred Reiter was there to make the save.
The Demons’ final goal came when Clayton Ward threaded a pass perfectly through Pagosa’s defense to Charles Gleason who booted the ball into the goal with 21:57 on the clock.
With the win, the Demons improved to 11-0 overall while Pagosa Springs slipped to 7-3.
DHS also beat Montrose 5-1 on Saturday to go 4-0 in its first round of 4A Southwestern League games. DHS led Montrose 4-0 at halftime and then tied the Red Hawks in the second half.
“We came out really strong, but we definitely need to work on closing out games,” Suits said.
Micah Stahl scored twice to lead DHS against Montrose while Newman and Webber also scored goals. Nike Korte assisted two goals while Cameron and Newman each assisted one.
Next, DHS will face the team that gave it the biggest test in its first round of league games, Grand Junction (7-2, 3-1). DHS beat the Tigers 2-0 at home on Sept. 10. The rematch is set for 1 p.m. Saturday in Grand Junction.
DHS is also still the No. 1 ranked team in Class 4A after getting 12 first-place votes in the latest CHSAANow.com poll. Northfield is ranked No. 2, followed by George Washington, Cheyenne Mountain and Centaurus.
“We’ll take it one game at a time,” Suits said. “We’re expecting a tough battle on Saturday against Grand Junction. We’ll try to learn from our mistakes and keep doing the things we do well.”
