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Durango tops Farmington 4-2 in interstate soccer showdown

Demons score three times in second half to earn important early-season win
Durango's Wes Recia (2) and Patrick Fulmer put defensive pressure on Farmington's Adewale Adeloye as he heads toward the goal in the second half on Tuesday at Hutchison Stadium. (Curtis Ray Benally/Special to the Tri-City Record)

FARMINGTON – Senior Mavrick Rodriguez and junior Dylan Burns scored a pair of goals as the Durango boys soccer team prevailed on the road 4-2 over Farmington on Tuesday afternoon at Hutchison Stadium.

Rodriguez scored both his goals in the second half as the Demons improved to 2-0-1 on the season ahead of a 5A/4A Southwestern League clash on Friday at Palisade.

Durango got on the board early in the match when Burns scored in the 10th minute of the first half. They had the advantage in time of possession and recorded four shots on goal in the opening 40 minutes.

Farmington knotted the match in the 29th minute when Oskar Henkel scored from 20 yards out on a shot that went over the outstretched arms of goalkeeper Quinn Harrison.

“We got that early goal and I think we got a little sluggish out there late in the half. Maybe I didn’t have them prepared for the match,” said Durango coach Sean Ackerman.

Farmington's Angel Alvarez attempts a shot against Durango's Jack Preston (6) and Wes Recia (2) in the second half on Tuesday at Hutchison Stadium. (Curtis Ray Benally/Special to the Tri-City Record)

The Demons broke the tie in the second half when Rodriguez powered a short range shot past Scorpions goalkeeper Trejin Toledo in the eighth minute. Durango’s offense put a lot of pressure on the Scorpions’ defense, firing off nine shots and keeping Farmington’s defense on its heels.

Durango extended the lead when Rodriguez scored his second goal of the half just five minutes later, picking up a loose ball outside the penalty box and firing it past Toledo.

Burns added another goal in the 28th minute of the second half to give Durango a commanding 4-1 lead.

The Demons’ offensive output was welcomed, as the team had scored only one goal in each of its first two matches this season.

“It was all about that tooth-and-nail grit that we’re looking for,” Ackerman said. “We had some tough results earlier, but we found a way to win and now we need to keep performing better.”

Toledo recorded five saves in the match despite being under siege for much of the second half. The eighth-grader faced a couple tough shots, but came up big on several occasions.

“For an eighth-grader, he showed a lot of determination out there,” said Scorpions coach Scott Smith. “I was real proud of the way he faced that kind of adversity.”

Henkel added a goal in the 33rd minute to trim the gap, but couldn’t make up any more ground on the scoreboard in the final minutes.

After opening the season 2-0, the Scorpions have lost two straight. Farmington will resume play at 11 a.m. Saturday at Bayfield.



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