Rocco Estes fired six goals past Montrose on Tuesday. In lacrosse, they call it a sock trick.
The Durango High School senior was on fire in a home game against a league rival. And when Montrose (0-3) threatened to tie the game in the fourth quarter, Estes scored three times to solidify a 11-7 victory.
For the Demons senior, it was sweet to be back home and earn the team’s first win in four games this spring.
And nothing made Estes happier than seeing the improvement of the young Demons, and he was elated to see freshman Cruz Martinez score his first career high school goal.
“This feels awesome. The freshmen and sophomores didn’t get a year last year because of COVID, so this is their first year playing, and I’m very proud of them,” Estes said. “These freshmen, Cruz getting his first goal and seeing how proud he was, it’s exciting.”
Durango’s 11-7 win saw goalie Bode Ensign come up with numerous big saves. He finished with 11 after facing 32 total shots.
“The defense played their hearts out, best game all year,” Estes said. “Bode is the heart of our team who is here for us and saves us, and we wouldn’t be here without him.”
The Demons also cleared the ball well, going 23-of-30. Head coach Luke Miller saw that as a big key to putting the game away.
“Rocco played his heart out with the six goals, and then we saw a lot of the things we’ve been working on the last few weeks,” coach Miller said. “Long possessions, working it and getting a goal, our goalie standing up to them and makings ton of saves and then getting great clears is a huge thing. It changes the game when you’re not giving the other team extra chances.”
Also with goals for DHS on Tuesday were freshman Henry Howe, sophomore Jameson Connolly and senior Matt Miller.
Howe, Miller and Logan Gurule each also had an assist.
After a tough road swing with losses of 12-5 at Glenwood Springs and 19-8 at Telluride, the Demons hope Tuesday’s win creates some momentum going into a 1 p.m. home game Saturday against Fruita Monument bfore the home finale at 1 p.m. Tuesday against Telluride.
“It was great to come back home after a couple of hard trips,” coach Miller said. “We had some guys who were injured come back, and having that extra depth in the fourth quarter made a big difference today.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
