Durango’s Taylor Klone got the Demons off to a good start in Saturday’s matchup with Fruita Monument. She also supplied an exclamation point at the end.
Klone’s 16th minute free kick goal gave Durango High School’s girls soccer team the lead, and her 79th minute tally sealed the deal, as the Demons (6-3, 2-0 5A/4A Southwestern League) beat league rival Wildcats 2-0. The two goals were the junior’s fourth and fifth in the last two games.
“Taylor has been on fire for us lately,” Durango head coach Dalon Parker said. “She was the beneficiary of some good plays by her teammates. She’s in great form, and when you work as hard as she does you capitalize on the few chances you get.”
Klone’s first goal came on a free kick after Lane Arnwine was taken down about 25 yards from the Wildcats’ net. The well-struck ball was placed perfectly in the top right corner of the goal to give the Demons a 1-0 lead.
“Lane made a great play and got taken down,” Klone said. “That’s my favorite spot to take a free kick. I don’t know how that happened. It was perfect.”
The Wildcats (4-2, 1-1 5A/4A Southwestern League) fought back and nearly tied the game a number of times. Durango’s freshman goalkeeper Emily Badgley was up to the task, however.
Badgley stopped seven shots in net to register her third shutout of the season. She made a sprawling save late in the first half to preserve the one-goal lead and held up strong in the second half as Fruita Monument applied the pressure.
“Emily kept us in the game for awhile,” Parker said. “The whole defense in general. Autumn Stevens is a great leader back there and her IQ showed up out there and saved the game for us.”
Badgley held strong in the midst of mid-second-half pressure from the Wildcats. She made a few key saves and got a little help from Stevens to, again, keep a stranglehold on the lead. The freshman made a save and fell out of position as the rebound found the foot of an opponent. Stevens had her back, though, and booted the sure goal away to safety.
The Demons did well to weather the storm until Klone struck again in the game’s final minute.
“It was just a beautiful cross from Mara (Morrissey),” Klone said. “I was just lucky to be where I was at. Mara made that one happen.”
Parker was especially encouraged by the play of Morrissey in her first career start.
“Oh my goodness, Mara was so good out there,” Parker said. “She was winning balls in the air, she was our pivot point at times, she was poised and put in tackles. Play like that in these big games against our rivals is how you earn a starting job.”
The win puts the Demons in a nice spot at the top of the league standings heading into a critical week in which they have a chance to pull off season sweeps of Montrose and Fruita Monument. They’ll host Montrose at 5 p.m. Thursday before visiting the Wildcats at 11 a.m. Saturday.
“This win definitely gives us some confidence,” Klone said. “It proves to us that we’re doing things right and heading in the right direction. We just need to keep working hard and believing in each other and good things will happen.”
jfries@durangoherald.com
