The Durango Demons completely dominated the second half and two overtime periods, but they didn’t finish.
Durango High School’s boys soccer team traveled to play No. 5 Longmont in the second round of the Colorado High School Activities Association Class 4A Boys Soccer Championships on Tuesday night at Everly-Montgomery Field in Longmont. The Trojans fired more shots in the first half with seven, but the Demons set the tone for the second half with more physical and offensive play.
But Durango couldn’t find the back of the net past Longmont senior goalkeeper Joel Chavez, who preserved a scoreless draw to send the match into penalty kicks after nothing was decided in two 15-minute overtime periods.
Chavez made two saves in the shootout, and Longmont made all four of its PKs to advance 1-0 past the No. 12 Demons and reach the state quarterfinals.
“We came out in the second half and absolutely took over,” DHS head coach Dalon Parker said in a phone interview with The Durango Herald. “But, you know, it’s playoff soccer. You get two or three opportunities and you have to finish one of them.
“There’s no doubt our boys played really hard. It was crazy to watch how we dominated but couldn’t finish it.”
Luke Stetler scored the Demons’ lone PK. Parker credited Chavez for making good saves during the shootout.
It is the second consecutive year the Demons (12-4-1) have lost in the second round in a road game on the Front Range after a loss a year ago to Littleton.
DHS played a strong game and showed its continued growth in a season in which it won a second consecutive Class 4A/5A Southwestern League championship.
“It’s crazy how close we are, but you gotta be good and you gotta be lucky,” Parker said. “We are going to lose a great senior class, but we have the opportunity to have 16 seniors on the team next year with playoff and league championship experience.
“Losing in PKs leaves a bad taste in your mouth, and I hope the returning class remembers what this feels like.”
The Trojans (15-1-1) will advance to play No. 4 Evergreen in the quarterfinals.
Evergreen defeated Palmer Ridge 2-1 earlier Tuesday.
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
