Before Wednesday’s Class 4A state soccer game against Palisade, Durango High School head coach Melissa Halonen told the team that their best soccer was still to come.
The No. 9 seeded Demons proved their coach right, showed some recent gains and put together one of their best games of the season to earn a 4-0 shutout over the Bulldogs in the first round at DHS.
“I’m just proud of them,” Halonen said. “Getting a win and a shutout is pretty big. Hopefully we can keep it going.”
Palisade, the tournament’s No. 24 seed, had arguably its best scoring opportunity about 10 minutes into the game. Mia De Villegas-Decker received a nice pass and had a one-on-one chance with Durango’s goalie Ryne Neiman. Neiman, however, was able to run up and block the close shot to keep Palisade from taking the early lead.
“That was huge for us,” Halonen said. “(An early goal) can really change our tactics and the team’s energy.”
Neiman made five saves in the game and punched away a corner kick to earn the shutout.
DHS got its offense rolling after the stop. Adde Neiman booted a long free kick on frame, and the ball took a high hop. Palisade’s goalie, Brenae Snover, was able to deflect the ball out of bounds, but Durango capitalized on the ensuing corner kick. Sarah Somrak placed the ball in the box and Mason Rowland volleyed it out of the air and into the net to give Durango a 1-0 lead with 26:35 remaining in the half.
Palisade almost countered, but Carter Neiman hustled back and used a slide tackle to knock the ball away from streaking Bulldog.
A minute later, Durango doubled its lead. Bella Saren first put a shot on goal with her left foot, but it was stopped. On the ensuing goal kick, Saren won the ball out of the air, dribbled down the field and scored with her right foot, putting DHS up 2-0 with 19:38 on the clock.
Riley Campbell nearly assisted Reese Dahly later in the half, but a diving save stopped her shot.
Dahly, however, capitalized on an opportunity with 7:49 left in the half. Rowland played the ball from the right side of the field into the goal box and Palisade’s goalie got a hand on the ball, but it bounced free. Dahly then kicked the bouncing ball in the net to put Durango up, 3-0.
DHS added another goal in the final minute of the half. Rowland launched a throw-in into the box and Campbell headed the one-timer in, giving DHS a 4-0 lead heading into halftime.
DHS got a lot of players in the game in the second half and switched some positions around, but stopped a handful of corner kicks to maintain the shutout.
Durango nearly added to its lead a couple times, too, but was just off target. Campbell bent one free kick just over the goal. Then, after Rowland drew a foul, Campbell took another free kick. Her initial boot hit Palisade’s wall and bounced back to her, and she fired another hard shot over the wall and clanged the cross bar.
Adde Neiman also put a free kick on goal, but Snover made a jumping save. Campbell took the corner kick and placed a nice ball in the box and Rowland headed it hard, but a Palisade defender blocked it.
Durango’s first-half cushion, however, held up.
“These girls are such good athletes and have really taken the direction that we’ve given them the last couple of weeks and created the team that we knew we were capable of having,” Halonen said.
DHS will next play at No. 8 Mullen in the second round at 11 a.m. on Saturday. Mullen beat No. 25 The Classical Academy 5-3 in its first-round game.
The two other Southwestern League teams in the 4A tournament also won on Wednesday. No. 21 Montrose beat No. 12 Pueblo County 2-0 and No. 15 Grand Junction Central beat No. 18 Battle Mountain 5-2.
