The Durango High School girls soccer team feels confident heading into the first round of the Colorado High School Activities Association Class 4A girls soccer state championships after it was able to secure a top-16 seed to host an opening-round match Wednesday.
The No. 15 Demons (8-5-1) made the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season and will play No. 18 Standley Lake (7-8) at 6 p.m. Wednesday at DHS.
“Obviously, we’re very excited to be hosting a playoff home game, and any time you can draw a Denver-area school, you’re going to face some challenges,” DHS first-year had coach Jonathan Berzins said. “Their strength of schedule is one of the toughest, if not the toughest, in all of 4A. They’re battle tested and will be ready to go.
“We’re going to try to stick to our strengths, and we’re going to rely on what has gotten us to this point this year. Numbers behind the ball, get back and defend and adjust when we need to.”
Standley Lake has scored 24 goals this season and is led by senior Haley Klasner and sophomore Dani Bird. Each has scored five times this year, while Bird leads the team with 14 points thanks to her four assists. Klasner has three assists. Sophomore Abby Hoople leads the Gators with five assists and also has four goals to give her 13 points on the season.
The Gators might appear to have limped into the playoffs given that they lost four out of their last six matches and have conceded 18 goals during the stretch. But looks can be deceiving, as their losses have come against fellow playoff qualifiers.
Since Berzins implemented a new formation at the start of the season, a 4-3-3 versus the previous team’s staple of a 4-4-2, the Demons have had few issues of putting the ball into the back of the net with 35 goals to 20 goals allowed with five shutout victories. Durango’s strength has been on counterattack and set pieces this season.
DHS junior striker Hannah Coster leads the team with seven goals and has also tallied two assists. She scored in last Thursday’s 4-1 win over Montrose to help DHS clinch a first-round home playoff game, while the No. 27 Indians (9-6) will hit the road in the first round to face No. 6 Mullen (12-2-1).
Durango senior Sasha Kozak has been in fine form as of late, as she has scored in three out of the last four matches for the Demons. This year, she has scored six goals and added two assists.
Maybe most important of all, the Demons will head into Wednesday’s match with a full and healthy squad.
“To have that at this stage of the season is big,” Berzins said. “We are excited about our possibilities moving forward, and I think you want to be peaking at the right time of the year, and if you look at our record these last six games, we’re scoring goals and not conceding much. With all these factors playing a part, plus when you’re going up against a team of that caliber, it will bring out the best in our competition, so I’m super excited to prepare the girls for an opportunity to get a win.”
The Demons have not been in many close games this year. When they have won, they’ve usually done so by a substantial margin, as they have outscored their opponents 24-5 in victories. They have only played in four games decided by one goal or fewer and are 2-1-1 this season. The Gators have been involved in seven one-goal games and are 4-3 in those games.
The winner of the match will face the winner of No. 2 seed Pueblo Centennial, who the Demons lost to 7-0 in last year’s first round, or the No. 31 seed, Littleton.
bploen@durangoherald.com
If you go
Who:
No. 18 Standley Lake at No. 15 Durango
What:
CHSAA Class 4A Girls Soccer State Championships, first round
When:
6 p.m. Wednesday
Where:
Durango High School Stadium
Twitter:
@BrendanPloen
