SAN MIGUEL COUNTY – Scoring three goals during the final four minutes, the Durango Lady Demons emphatically ended a six-match away stretch of its schedule with a 9-1 victory Monday afternoon at Telluride. Durango finished its road trip 4-0-2.
Durango improved to 7-2-3 overall with the win. Telluride fell to 5-6-1 with the loss.
“Coming in, we just wanted to be able to possess the ball and find the right time to go forward, find the right time to score,” said junior Bella Saren. “And just, overall, work on simple things which will, in general, help when we play harder teams.”
Had it not been for a little Senior Day magic with Lady Miner senior Brooke Duncan’s 74th-minute free-kick goal from roughly 25 yards out at Judy Long Memorial Field, DHS would have recorded a third straight shutout.
Dahly opened the scoring in the third minute, after stealing the ball from THS’ Kimberly Magana, but then had to briefly leave the match after knocking noggins with a Telluride player while vying for a 15th-minute header near midfield. In her immediate absence, Durango went up 2-0 when senior Emery Miller passed to junior Emma Hyder for a 20th-minute breakaway goal. But with THS senior goalkeeper Jayden Fortner making save after save, several of the highlight-reel sort, the Lady Demons could only increase their advantage to 3-0 – via junior Peyton Cioppa’s 37th-minute goal, set up by Dahly before halftime.
Telluride labored to simply get within 30 yards of DHS sophomore goalie Ryne Neiman and head coach Melissa Halonen was able to get her two backup goalies in the game.
Coming out hot offensively, Durango went up 4-0 in the 43rd minute when Saren ripped a shot off Fortner’s hands, and 5-0 in the 44th when Miller struck. Miller then assisted Saren on a 53rd-minute finish from close range, and after Duncan’s goal DHS responded with a Hyder goal in the 77th minute, a score by junior Lauren McClellan (produced by McClellan stealing the ball from THS’ Tjarn Lyons) in the 79th, and Miller’s 80th-minute put-away of a teammate’s try initially deflected by a diving Fortner.
Unofficially, Durango fired nearly 40 shots in the match and put 27 on frame as Fortner racked up 18 saves in defeat.
Up next, the Lady Demons will resume SWL work at 7 p.m. Thursday versus Grand Junction Central, then welcome Fruita Monument the next evening for a 5:30 kickoff.
“Central, we tied them last time and we definitely should have won,” Saren said, recalling the 1-1 draw back on April 13. “So I’m excited to show them that we’re the better team. I’m so excited to play Fruita again; we beat them on the road this past weekend but I’m excited to play them at home. It’ll help us a lot in the rankings and get us ready for playoffs.”
