The dramatic Durango Demons have found their cardiac kid.
For the second time in a week, Steffie Wilson tallied a game winner in double overtime – this one with less than 30 seconds to play in the frame – and the Durango High School girls soccer team picked up another dramatic win over a potential Class 4A playoff team, topping Palisade 3-2 on Senior Day at Riverview Sports Complex.
Just moments away from a tie, DHS (9-3-1) flipped the field. Bella Bernazzani won a ball in the defensive half, took a couple of touches and fired a long feed to Lauren Milliet. Milliet patiently held and waited until Wilson came uncovered on a diagonal run through the penalty area on the left side and slid Wilson a pass that found her in stride, and the junior didn’t miss, sliding the ball under a charging Katie Dunn and into the net.
“It’s fun, and it’s good to know my team can rely on me when push comes to shove and we’re in that last minute,” said Wilson, daughter of Kathy and Steve Wilson. “I think that it’s just the excitement and the pressure makes it really, really urgent and just makes me want it more.”
“I always look for Steffie because she’s really fast, and she always makes the right runs for me,” said Milliet, daughter of Charlie and Janis Milliet. “So when (Bernazzani) passed that ball, I was just like ‘OK.’ I just tend not to get really super-intense or really freak out, and so I just turned, and she was there, and I was like, ‘OK, slot it!’”
DHS head coach Dalon Parker said what made him happiest about the goal, aside from the fact it won the game, was the teamwork required to make it happen. It showcased a quality passing combination, something Durango has been trying to accomplish with greater consistency.
“This team is a good team, and they play just like us,” Parker said. “And when you have a team that does that, combination plays are what win games. ... The other great thing about it was it wasn’t just one person that took all the glory. It took a team effort from winning it out of the back, building in the midfield and finishing up top.”
It was the Demons’ fourth consecutive victory, a run that included last Saturday’s double-overtime win over league-leading Montrose. It also provided a solid benchmark for where DHS stands in the Class 4A playoff pecking order in this corner of the state, as the Bulldogs sit percentage points behind Battle Mountain for the top spot in the Western Slope League.
“We want to come out here and play hard, and we want to put our best effort out because we’re trying to make a statement to people that we’re ready,” Parker said. “We’re ready for the playoffs, and we’re ready to get past that first round.”
Palisade opened the scoring in the 14th minute when India Hilty fired inside the left post to give the Bulldogs (7-3-0) a 1-0 lead.
The Demons responded in the 30th minute when Milliet’s long through ball slipped sister Katie Milliet in on goal, and the younger sibling slotted the shot under a charging Dunn to equalize.
Durango took its first lead in the waning stages of regulation. In the 71st minute, Bernazzani drilled a picturesque free kick from the right wing from about 30 yards out that bent low and inside the left post as Dunn battled the sun and the wind.
But Durango’s hopes of a regulation victory would be short-lived as Nicole Harkreader received a pass across from the right side to the middle of the pitch and fired past Hannah Robertson just a minute later to equalize.
It was a rough goal to give up for DHS, which had the better run of play and several quality chances in the second half upon which the Demons couldn’t capitalize. Dunn made 10 saves for the Bulldogs, a majority of them in the second half as DHS peppered the net with little success.
But those near misses made the game winner all the sweeter. And a big relief.
“I feel like you just get really relieved, and you’re like, ‘Oh, thank God. At least one goes in,’” Milliet said.
rowens@durangoherald.com
Durango Demons
Senior Day
Note: The four seniors on the Durango High School girls soccer team.
Cora Kilgo
Bonne Matheson
Stephanie Ogier
Taylor Woolverton
Durango Herald
