Durango High School senior Lane Arnwine has been through the varsity girls soccer schedule enough to know what’s ahead.
This season will be Arnwine’s fourth playing with the Demons varsity squad, and she has a unique perspective having seen the success and failures of previous squads.
“It’s so hard to tell how good we’ll be this early in the season,” she said. “Usually, we get some sort of idea at the Air Academy tournament. This year didn’t go so well and I think that might help us down the road. Last year we had a great start and maybe didn’t work as hard as we should have because we thought we were good enough already.”
Durango started off last season with a 1-0 win against perennial power Air Academy. The Demons finished league play 9-1 and tied at the top of the 5A/4A Southwestern League with Fruita Monument.
Arnwine’s experience leads her to believe that it’s not how you start, but it’s how you finish, and that’s the motto the team is trying to use to break through a barrier that’s been with the Demons for the past few years. After sharing the league title with Fruita, the Demons were bounced from the Colorado High School Activities Association’s 4A Girls Soccer State Tournament in a 1-0 opening-round home loss against Littleton.
“I have some personal goals, but the main goal is just to come together as a team,” Arnwine said. “We all want to get past the first round of the playoffs. If we can get that monkey of our backs, who knows how far we can go?”
Personally, Arnwine wants to lead the team in goals this season after tying for the team high with four last year en route to earning All-SWL First Team honors. She’s off to a heck of a start with six goals already this season, and league play hasn’t even started yet.
If Arnwine is pacing herself and her team to improve as the season goes on, she’s been doing just that. The offensive force scored four times in the last two games and the Demons have won three in a row heading into the league opener Tuesday at Montrose after losing three of their first four to open the season.
“Hey, sometimes it’s good to get beat and we definitely learned that we need to get better,” she said. “These last few games have been more like it for us. It’s a total team effort when we win and that’s the only way we’re going to win.”
The last half of the season won’t just be Arnwine’s last with a veteran group of Demons beside her, it’ll likely be her last as a competitive soccer player. She’ll be heading to the University of Denver next year and has no interest in playing soccer at the next level.
“I want to go to school and just focus on academics,” she said. “I’m not sure what exactly I want to do down the road, so I want to make sure I figure that out when I’m there.”
jfries@durangoherald.com
Behind the scenes
Who is your favorite restaurant in town?: Ore House.
What is your dream job?: I don’t know. Something that allows me to travel.
What teacher made an impact on your life?: Mr. Jackson, my Anatomy teacher.
Where is your favorite vacation spot?: Todo Santos in Mexico.
What do you listen to before games to get fired up?: I have a different playlist every week. Mostly some sort of rap music.
What is your favorite sports movie?: She’s the Man.
Who is your favorite athlete?: Luis Suarez.
What place would you like to visit one day?: Argentina.
Where is the worst place to go play?: Montrose.
If someone made a movie about you, who would play your role?: Blake Lively.
