The Colorado High School Activities Association released its girls soccer playoff brackets Sunday, and Durango was rewarded for its impressive season with an opportunity to host an opening round match.
The Demons were given the 12-seed and will take on No. 21 Littleton (9-6, 4-5 4A Jefferson County) Wednesday at Riverview Park. The start time hasn’t been made official, but a 5 p.m. or 5:30 p.m. start is expected.
Durango landed in the talent-loaded Quadrant 2 of the CHSAA 4A 32-team bracket. If the Demons can handle Littleton in the opening round, they are likely to face a familiar foe in the second round.
“I think we got a fair seed, but our quadrant is the quadrant of death,” Durango head coach Dalon Parker said in a phone interview with The Durango Herald. “Our focus is solely on this first game, but when I looked at the bracket, I wasn’t at all surprised to see Air Academy right there. They’re used to going deep in this tournament, so if we are lucky enough to advance, they won’t just want to beat us, they’ll want to embarrass us.”
In the first game of the season, the Demons beat No. 5 Air Academy (9-3-3, 5-1-1 4A Pikes Peak League) on the road 1-0. The Kadets went on to finish second in their league behind only the tournament’s No. 1 ranked team Lewis-Palmer.
Durango (11-4, 9-1 5A/4A Southwestern League) will have to handle Littleton first, and that won’t be an easy task. The Demons have a number of strong underclassmen, but they’ll meet their match with Littleton sophomore Sarah Payson. Payson averages over a goal a game with 14 goals in 13 games played. She has also assisted on six goals.
The Lions have lost two of their last three games heading into the opening round matchup, but the slate is wiped clean for all heading into the postseason.
“Usually you can tell more about a team by their league, not the record,” Parker said. “Littleton plays in a tough league and those teams play a different style than we see on this side of the state, so we’ve got to be ready for a different kind of fight.”
Durango will enter the playoffs playing as well as it has all season. Aside from a blowout loss in the regular season finale to 5A powerhouse Pine Creek, the Demons are healthier than they were early in the season and the young squad continues to gain experience. They won five in a row until last week’s slip-up at Pine Creek, with four of those wins being shutouts.
While the offense has been producing with multiple threats, the Demons’ strength as the season has progressed comes on the backline. Sophomore Autumn Stevens took the reins on defense with senior leader Maddie Roberston sidelined for much of the season. Now that Robertson is back, the Demons have been tough to score on and the senior has also pitched in offensively with four goals in her first four games back.
“When we play our style, Maddie and Autumn are so effective in dead-ball situations,” Parker said. “We’re a well-built team with multiple weapons, but having Maddie back and Autumn with her on the back line is priceless on defense, and they’ve been dangerous on offense too. All around, we’re as strong now as we have been all year.”
jfries@durangoherald.com
