Lauran Milliet’s return provided a spark to break a five-game losing streak.
The Durango High School senior played a role in both goals the Demons girls soccer team scored in a 3-1 win over Grand Junction on Friday in Durango.
She had missed the previous game-and-a-half with a leg contusion. DHS lost both of those games.
Friday, Milliet broke a 0-0 tie with a backside volley from a challenging angle on the left side seconds before the referee blew the halftime whistle.
“I saw Lane (Arnwine) coming down the line and got back post for her,” said Milliet, daughter of Charlie and Janis Milliet. “That girl missed it, so I thought, ‘I’m putting it on frame.’ Shot it back post.”
The half ended immediately after the goal was counted, causing confusion for both teams. They thought play would restart briefly but were sent to the sidelines.
Grand Junction (3-2, 2-1 Southwestern League) walked over slightly shocked.
“We tried to make it fire us up, but it definitely took a little bit of the wind out of our sails – another thing to come back from,” Grand Junction head coach Joe Graham said. “But we tried to look at it as a way to motivate us in the second half. Durango just took it and ran with it. Their play was way more explosive and dynamic in the second half.”
Milliet, a Colorado College signee, found herself in the middle of the action there, too. She assisted on DHS freshman Jenna Beckley’s first career goal with a patented Milliet flip throw in the 50th minute.
“When Lauren Milliet does the big front flip throws we know that you have to get on the very far outside because most people don’t hit it,” said Beckley, daughter of Bob and Cindy Beckley. “I figured I would be there, and I guess it worked out.”
The Tigers gave DHS (2-5, 2-2 SWL) its third goal on an own-goal in the 63rd minute. After that, the game started to unravel for Grand Junction. It lost two seniors, Maddie Theyson and Taylor Kochevar, to a concussion and bloody lip over the course of the second half. Theyson will be out for a few weeks, but Graham expects Kochevar back sooner.
“This is an expensive game for us,” Graham said.
Grand Junction clawed a little closer in the 72nd minute on Taylor Hein’s breakaway goal, but Durango’s damage was done.
“Not only did we need to win, but we need to play well in a win for the girls psyche,” DHS head coach Dalon Parker said.
The Demons will need the mental fortitude for their next contest. They face Montrose, the team Milliet was injured against, at noon Saturday at Riverview Sports Complex.
“That game’s going to be weird because we had bad blood when we were there,” Parker said. “The girls know what they have to do. We have to get points. I want them to not even think about it. I want the past to be the past and the future to be something they create.”
kgrabowski@durangoherald.com
