It took the Durango High School girls soccer team extra time, but the Demons got the job done Saturday at Grand Junction Central.
With the game tied 1-1 after regulation time and a frustrating 10 minutes of overtime behind them, Demons junior Autumn Stevens headed a corner kick into the net to cap off a 2-1 victory.
“I felt like we’d be alright if we came in and took care of business (Saturday),” Durango head coach Dalon Parker said in a phone interview with The Durango Herald. “Now, we control our own destiny in the league. If we win the rest of our games, which I think we can, it’s ours.”
Kayla Rubenstein assisted Stevens’ golden goal, but she also got one of her own to give the Demons (9-4, 5-1 5A/4A Southwestern League) a lead in the first half. Lane Arnwine had the assist on the only DHS first-half tally. However, the Warriors (5-8, 1-5 SWL) evened the score with a penalty kick that beat Durango freshman goalkeeper Emily Bagdley.
Aside from that, Badgley was solid once again. She made seven saves including a sprawling stop that deflected a would be Central game-winner just over the crossbar.
Like much of the game, Durango was dominant in the first overtime session but couldn’t get off the finishing touch until Stevens’ decisive header. The Demons outshot the hosts 22-8 and, according to Parker, narrowly missed out on half a dozen high-quality chances from point blank range.
“We have to do a better job of finishing the opportunities we create,” Parker said. “I was proud to see the girls keep at it. They never got discouraged and eventually put it in the back of the net when it really mattered.”
The Demons will try to take one more step to the league title at 5 p.m. Tuesday at Grand Junction.
Baseball
BaseballSenior day ended on a sour note for the Durango High School baseball team.
The Demons were coming off a big win Friday against Fruita Monument - the Southwestern League’s first-place team - and led late in the game again Saturday.
Durango, the visitors in the second game of the weekend, had a three-run lead in the fifth inning but untimely errors and a seventh-inning rally carried Fruita Monument to a 5-4 win.
DHS senior Peyton Woolverton started the game on the mound and threw six strong innings. The tall right-hander struck out seven Wildcats and walked four. He allowed three runs, only one of which was earned as back-to-back errors in the fifth inning turned a 3-0 Demons lead to a one-run advantage.
Fellow senior Mark Lamoreaux led the offense with a 3-for-4 performance at the plate with two runs scored and a run batted in. Lamoreaux scored the Demons’ first run after Kegan D’Aleo’s single to left field was misplayed by the Wildcats’ left fielder.
Durango (5-12, 2-4 SWL) added two more runs in the fifth inning, but Fruita cut the deficit to one in the bottom half and tied it in the sixth. Durango took the lead in the seventh with an unearned run of its own, but the Wildcats managed to plate two runs off DHS closer Gavin Mestas in the final at-bat to pull of the comeback win.
The Wildcats (13-6, 6-2 SWL) clinched the league title with the win.
Durango will close out its regular season schedule with a Saturday doubleheader at Grand Junction.
Girls Soccer
Girls SoccerThe Bobcats ran into one of the state’s top goal-scorers Saturday when they got on the pitch with Alamosa’s Katie Parkins.
The Mean Moose (9-4, 2-4 3A Region 5) junior scored two first-half goals and added four more in the second half as Alamosa cruised to a 7-0 victory.
Ignacio (0-11, 0-7 2A Region 4) was outshot 35-0 in the loss, but goalkeeper Bailey Wyatt did well to keep her team in the game. Wyatt did well filling in for injured goalie Laney Webb and stopped 13 shots in the first half as Alamosa led just 2-0 at halftime.
Parkins scored four goals in a 20-minute span during the second half to put the game away.
Ignacio will try to get its first win at 4 p.m. Tuesday at Ridgway.
jfries@durangoherald.com
