Last year, it was heartbreak. This year, it was jubilation.
Three hundred and sixty-four days ago, the No. 4-seeded Durango High School girls soccer team was upset in the first round, 2-1 at home against No. 29 Dakota Ridge in the first round of the 4A state playoffs.
On Wednesday night, the No. 5 seed Demons dominated No. 28 Mountain View from the start for an 8-0 victory in the first round of the 4A state playoffs.
“It's really exciting, especially for us seniors, because last year, going into it, we were at the higher seed by a lot,” Durango senior Bella Saren said. “It was a big upset and it kind of threw our whole team off. So today we came in with a better mentality that you can't really assume seating means how good a team is. We came in wanting to work hard and we got it done.”
Durango’s passing and pressure were on display the entire 80 minutes. The Demons had great combination play with short passes and had some beautiful through balls on the quick Durango turf that led to easy scoring chances.
Mountain View may have had possession 10% of the game because of Durango’s pressure. Tackles were plentiful in the midfield and Durango seemed to win possession on every ball in the air.
Six players scored for Durango, five of its eight goals were assisted and the Demons subbed in their bench because of their dominance.
“I'm happy with the girls and their performance,” Durango head coach Zac Keeler said. “Whatever I'm asking them to do, they step up and they make sure they do it. It's nice to be a part of this team and I’m happy to continue pursuing their goal to be state champs.”
Durango improved to 13-3 overall and won its 13th consecutive game, the Demons’ longest win streak in at least 15 years. Sophomore Ellis Campbell led Durango with three goals. Junior Josie Phare finished with two assists off the bench.
Mountain View finished its season 11-5 overall.
Durango got the scoring started almost immediately. The Demons almost immediately took control of the possession and threatened with some nice passes into space.
The Demons played a ball into the 18-yard box and the ball rolled out perfectly to senior Emily McVaugh. She took a touch and struck the ball into the lower left corner from about 20 yards out for a 1-0 lead with 38:20 left.
Senior Peyton Cioppa had a great chance about five minutes later. Campbell played a great ball into the box, which was kicked around until it came to Cioppa only a yard or two in front of the goal. She didn’t get a good hit on the ball and it barely rolled to the outside of the left post.
The constant attempts at the perfect through ball finally paid off. Cioppa received a pass in the midfield, turned and took the space the defense gave her. She then played a beautiful through ball down the right side for sophomore Lila Scherer-Sickler to run onto. This caught the Mountain View goalkeeper off her line and allowed Scherer-Sickler an easy finish into the net from the right side from about 10 yards out for a 2-0 lead with 25:45 left in the half.
“It's been the culmination of this season,” Keeler said about Durango’s passing. “This field's really hard to make through passes and the space is there and the vision is there. We just have to make sure that we played it in the right space at the right time.”
Defensively, Durango didn’t have to do much but made smart decisions with the ball and made some nice tackles when Mountain View tried to create offense with its forwards.
Once again, stellar passing paid off for the Demons. Phare, fresh off the bench, played a great ball into the middle of the 18-yard box through traffic. Campbell got on the end of it and finished from close range for a 3-0 lead with 17:55 left.
Phare created the fourth goal. She didn’t give up on a ball down the left side and beat the keeper to it. She then flicked the ball toward the open goal and sophomore Jensen Quenzler finished from close range for a 4-0 lead with 7:20 left in the first half. Durango led 4-0 at halftime.
“She's definitely been a spark for us when we try to work the opponent down and usually it's a score,” Keeler said about Phare. “But today, she was able to get some assists to some players.”
Durango kept up the scoring with some great ball movement through the middle. Campbell received a great ball and had plenty of space to turn and fire into the net from about 20 yards out. Her goal gave Durango a 5-0 lead with 37:40 left in the game.
Campbell completed her hat trick six minutes later. Durango moved the ball through the middle and found Campbell alone. She finished hard and low for a 6-0 lead.
Gracie Fitzpatrick added to the lead with a shot from the left side that somehow made it through multiple defenders and past the Mountain View keeper, who didn’t even react and looked like she was screened. Fitzpatrick’s goal increased the lead to 7-0 and it was her first goal of the year.
The Demons play No. 12 seed Riverdale Ridge on Saturday at Durango High School in the second round of the state playoffs. The Ravens are 12-3-1 overall and beat No. 21 Montrose 3-1 in the first round of the playoffs.
“We need to keep coming in to practice every day with a mindset that as you keep going on, the teams are going to get harder,” Saren said. “We really need to push each other in practice because our best competition right now is each other.”
bkelly@durangoherald.com
