Coronado stuns Durango soccer in state playoffs

Nik Korte of Durango High School kicks the ball past a Coronado High School player Thursday at DHS during the first round of Class 4A state playoffs. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)cca

The Durango High School boys soccer team’s season came to an abrupt end Thursday in the first round of the CHSAA Class 4A state playoffs.

The No. 1 seeded Demons outshot No. 32 Coronado by a wide margin throughout the contest. The Cougars, however, capitalized on their only shot in the second half to take a 1-0 lead. Coronado then moved most of its team back on defense for the final 18 minutes of the game to keep DHS from getting good looks. Coronado’s defenders blocked many of the late shots Durango was able to get off and held on to win the game, 1-0.

“It’s a funny sport, but all of the credit goes to Coronado for finishing their chances and locking down on defense,” said DHS head coach Danny Suits. “It was a good battle between two good teams.”

The playoff game was physical from start to finish, but Durango seemed to be in control for most of it.

One of Durango’s best scoring chances came in the first half after Sam Persing drew a foul just outside of the box. Nike Korte bent a shot over Coronado’s wall, but Coronado’s ’ goalie made a leaping one-handed save to deflect the shot out of bounds.

Coronado’s defense, however, kept Durango from getting a lot of open looks, and its goalie knocked away a few good passes in the box before the Demons could get a diving head on them.

The loss was Durango’s first of the year and the teams ends its season 15-1 overall. Coronado, the 4A/3A CSML league champion, won its sixth straight game to improve to 6-8-1.

“I couldn’t be prouder of the guys,” Suits said. “I think we had an awesome, awesome season. The ball just didn’t bounce our way at the end.”