The Durango High School hockey team welcomed another highly ranked team to the Chapman Hill Ice Rink on Saturday, No. 6 Kent Denver.
Despite missing about seven players from its varsity lineup, the No. 9 Demons jumped out to a 2-0 lead. Kent Denver, however, came back to win 4-3.
“I liked the work ethic and the determination we kept throughout the game,” said Durango head coach Brian Ensign. “I think our youth came out. We brought up some younger players and they played exceptional for their first games at the varsity level, but their youth came out in some of our inconsistency and at times we got out of our system.”
Early on, however, the Demons pushed the pace and put multiple shots on goal in the game’s first minute.
Ten minutes into the first, Pol Cavaller got the puck behind the net, found Zealand Eaton open in front, and Eaton buried a shot to put DHS up 1-0.
The Demons stayed on the attack after that. Owen Blount received a great pass to get alone with Kent’s goalie, but his shot was saved. Loudon Doemland later fired a wrist shot off the cross bar. The Demons had three more shots in the next minute, but were unable to add to their lead and took a 1-0 advantage into the second.
The Sun Devils became the aggressors to start the second period, but goalie Evan Brock made several stops early.
“I thought Evan played very well and kept us in it,” Ensign said. “He made some phenomenal saves, some times making three saves on the same play.”
Brock also started the team’s first game while Luka Remec played between the pipes in Durango’s second game, but was gone on Saturday. “We don’t have a No. 1 and No. 2 (goalie), we have two ones,” Ensign said.
The Demons went up 2-0 on a power-play goal later in the second when Dylan LaBorde fired a shot through traffic that found the back of the net. Jerry Sharpe and Connor Jones assisted the goal.
The Demons then put another goal in the net after a bit of a scrum in front of the net, but it was waved off. “They got together and said the goalkeeper had it covered long enough to establish control,” Ensign said. “I think the team had a little high there thinking we were up 3-0, so it was certainly a letdown.”
The Sun Devils then scored two in a row to tie the game, smacking a one-timer in and later barely sneaking a loose rebound past the line just before Brock gloved it.
Brock later stopped a Kent Denver breakaway to keep the game even, but Kent ended the second and started the third with a 5-on-3 power play.
DHS was able to kill the power play, but seconds after it ended Kent scored to go up 3-2 with 15:06 remaining.
DHS then tied the game back up when Cavaller beat Kent’s goalie with a wrist shot, assisted by Nick Best and Bryson Quimby, with 12:12 left.
Both teams then had power plays, but neither scored. The Demons had a few good shots when it had the advantage, but all of their shots were saved.
Cavaller and two of his teammates then created another good scoring chance, but after a Demon shot was saved, Kent turned the play into a breakaway the other way and scored the game-winning goal with 2:25 left in the contest. DHS pulled its goalie in the final minute, but was unable to find the equalizer.
Durango was also scheduled to play Air Academy on Friday, but the team only had 10 eligible players so it forfeited to the Demons. Kent Denver beat Air Academy earlier in the season 9-1.
DHS is now 1-3 overall after the forfeit and one-goal loss this weekend, but moved up in the CHSAANow.com’s latest poll to No. 9. Kent (3-2) stayed at No. 6 while Durango’s first opponent, Steamboat Springs (4-1), took over as the No. 1 ranked team in Class 4A.
“Obviously we’ve like to have some Ws, but our three games have all been tight and we’ve been missing kids,” Ensign said. “When we get our full team back, I think we can do well in the mountain division.”
DHS will compete on Jan. 6 and 7 when the team hosts No. 7 Summit (0-2) for a pair of league games.
