The Durango High School boys soccer team finished out its home schedule with five first-half goals in a 7-0 win over Grand Junction Central Saturday afternoon at Durango High School to complete an undefeated regular season at home.
The Demons (12-1, 6-0 5A/4A Southwestern League), ranked No. 2 in the Colorado High School Activities Association’s latest Class 4A poll, and No. 4 RPI, recorded four corner kicks in the first five minutes of the match until senior forward Lance Townsend found the game’s opening goal in the sixth minute, when he split two defenders and fired a shot into the bottom right corner to give DHS a 1-0 lead. Townsend added his second goal of the game three minutes later. Jack Beattie fed Townsend, and he sprinted past Central’s defense and calmly put it away to give the Demons a 2-0 lead.
“I thought we came out in the first half and played really well,” Townsend said. “We came out with a lot of energy and intensity, and we had to outplay our opponents, and we did that. It’s amazing to finish our home games like this. Myself and my fellow seniors have worked really hard to get to this point, and it was so great to see everybody being honored like they were, and it was well deserved.”
On senior day, Townsend’s fellow senior Logan Fullington scored in the 22nd minute after Townsend’s initial shot hit the post. Fullington was there to tap it in to give Durango a 3-0 lead.
Caleb Lachelt got in on the scoring action in the 34th minute when he headed in a corner, while Braden Lyons added another goal just two minutes before halftime to give the Demons a resounding 5-0 lead.
Grand Junction Central head coach Joe Diedrich said the Warriors (2-9-1, 0-6 SWL) chased too much and Durango’s front attackers made them pay for their mistakes.
“They knocked the ball around a lot in that first half and always moved off the ball to get open,” Diedrich said. “They’re one of the top teams, and we were glad to play them and learned a lot from this game. We’ve got to start from the beginning and have to win those 50-50 balls. With great teams like this, you can’t chase the ball because that’s what we did in the first half. We chased too much, and they made us pay.”
In the second half, Lachelt scored his second of the game after he was in on goal from a through ball and easily found the back of the net to make it 6-0. In the 70th minute, Rensler Beasley was the third senior to score to make it 7-0.
After the match, the eight seniors were honored with a new jersey with their last name and number stitched into the shirt.
Head coach Aaron Champenoy thought the senior class led the way from the season’s opening practice.
“It’s a great group,” Champenoy said. “They came into a tough situation with me as their new coach, and they bought in with what we were trying to do and the results have shown, and it’s a big part of their leadership and showing the younger guys how to deal with change, and it’s gone pretty well so far.”
The Demons will travel to Grand Junction to play the Tigers at 1 p.m. next Saturday at Grand Junction High School.
bploen@ durangoherald.com
