There wasn’t anything the Durango High School boys soccer team could do.
Battle Mountain buried the one chance they got on goal in overtime to advance to the second round of the CHSAA Class 4A Boys Soccer State Championships with a 2-1 victory over Durango on Wednesday in Edwards.
“They had a really good combination play,” DHS head coach Dalon Parker said. “It wasn’t really anything that was super-extraordinary; they took advantage of their moment.”
David Schwantes put the Demons up 1-0 in the first half, but DHS conceded in the second to send the game to overtime.
DHS (9-6-1) lost in the first round of the playoffs for the second consecutive year but stayed with the defending state champions for a whole game and then some.
Ryan Wood and Roberto Diaz scored for Battle Mountain.
“We definitely fought; we scored the first goal, which is something that we struggled with,” senior Cory Munch said. “When they scored their goal, we didn’t put our heads down; we couldn’t find that second goal.”
Battle Mountain (14-2) will host Niwot on Tuesday.
Though they lost, the Demons’ seniors look back on the game and the season with fondness.
“For us seniors, we’re definitely excited about this past season,” Munch said. “We definitely grew together as a team.”
Durango started the year with a new coach and battled inconsistency throughout the season after changing defensive structures. DHS had to reschedule two games because of flooding that kept the team out of games for two weeks.
The team ended the year on a three-game winning streak entering the postseason.
“We grew so much from the first week to the last week of the season,” Parker said. “These boys showed a lot about what we stand for and this program.”
DHS will lose 14 seniors to graduation for next season, but its other five varsity players are juniors.
“It showed we’re not just a town you can roll over,” Parker said. “It was a good showing for us, the best soccer we’ve played all season.”
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