The scoreboard doesn’t always tell the whole story. Durango controlled almost every facet of Friday night’s girls soccer game against Grand Junction. The only problem is the Demons couldn’t score.
However, junior defender Lilly Fitzpatrick came to the rescue with a header off a corner kick to give the Demons a 1-0 lead they would turn into a victory.
Durango improved to 3-2-1 overall and 1-1 in the 4A/5A Southwestern League with the win. Grand Junction fell to 2-3-1 overall and 1-2 in the 4A/5A Southwestern League with the loss.
“I’m really happy with the performance,” Durango head coach Melissa Halonen said. “I always tell them that results aren’t the biggest thing it's about the performance. I felt like we dominated, it could’ve easily been a 2-0 or 3-0 game.”
Both teams fought for possession early on as the wind had an impact on some long balls. Durango had a few nice through balls early but the strikers mistimed their runs and were offsides.
Emery Miller had the first real chance of the game with a shot from the right side of the 18-yard box with 25 minutes left but it went over the crossbar.
After a foul was drawn, senior defender Carter Neiman took a free kick from about 25 yards out that was driven low but saved by the keeper.
Junior midfielder Peyton Cioppa had a great run through the midfield for the Demons and was able to get a shot off but it went wide.
Most of the first half was a fight in the midfield as the Demons struggled to attack with their possession. Both defenses were strong and neither goalie was challenged.
“They stepped up big,” Halonen said about her defense. “They’ve had a rough couple of games leading into this game. We talked a lot about composure and being calm … they did it all tonight and it made their confidence higher.”
Halonen also said the defense did a great job of scanning the field, body position, having good angles, being tight, compact and getting their body in front of the ball when it’s in the air.
Carter Neiman had another free kick, this time from about 30 yards which she barely put over the crossbar.
The Demons had better possession toward the end of the second half in the midfield. Durango had a corner kick with 1:20 to go in the first half which was almost deflected in but it was saved and it was 0-0 at halftime.
Durango scored early in the second half. Fitzpatrick had a header off a corner kick from junior midfielder Bella Saren and put the Demons up 1-0 with 36 minutes to go.
“Leading into this season we’ve been pretty good at set pieces,” Halonen said. “But we lost some players that were good in the air and we haven’t gotten good in the air yet … we’ll get there.”
Grand Junction struggled to keep possession and therefore didn’t challenge Ryne Neiman in goal early in the second half.
Sedona Czarnecki did force Durango sophomore goalie Ryne Neiman into a diving save but Durango recovered possession with 26 minutes to go.
The Demons looked like they scored another goal off a corner but the ref waved it off for an offensive foul with 14 minutes to go.
Despite only being up one, the Demons controlled the game with their ball movement and defense late in the second half.
“Getting into our final third, we just need to be a little more creative doing some give-and-goes and some combination plays at the top of the box so we can create good chances,” Halonen said. “We did a better getting our outside backs into the point where they can get crosses and runs into the box.”
Junior midfielder Emily Mcvaugh had a good header with less than two minutes left but it hit the crossbar. Halonen credited Mcvaugh for dictating the tempo of play from the center defensive midfield position the entire game with senior Reese Dahly out with an injury.
Durango is back in action next Friday at Montrose at 5 p.m.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
