The Durango High School boys lacrosse team showed its potential at home against Crested Butte on Friday in the fourth quarter, but it was too little too late as the Demons lost 12-9.
Crested Butte had the upper hand against Durango for three quarters as the Demons struggled with ball movement and penetration against the Titans’ defense. Once the fourth quarter rolled around, the Demons showed the offensive potential that made head coach Valeria Skarbek bullish on her team’s chances this season.
Durango scored four goals in the first six minutes of the fourth, moving the ball well and taking smart shots as it cut Crested Butte’s lead to two. However, the Demons couldn’t overcome their poor clearing, lack of ground balls and off-ball movement to get their first home win.
“We really showed what we can do in the second half, but in the first half, we were flat,” Skarbek said. “We weren’t where we needed to be … We just need to not hold the ball so long sometimes and just go off and take some shots … Hopefully we can come back and play better.”
Durango dropped to 1-2 overall and 0-2 in the 4A Mountain League after the loss. Junior Logan Muraro led the Demons with four goals. Seniors Henry Huff and Ian Hasty each added two goals. Senior goalie Keegan Wilson finished with eight saves for the Demons.
Crested Butte improved to 4-3 overall and 2-3 in the 4A Mountain League with the win.
Durango was very deliberate on offense early, but a tough turnover led to a transition opportunity for Crested Butte. The Titans scored first with a low release outside rip to go up 1-0 with 10 minutes left in the first. Crested Butte responded again off another turnover with a nice dodge and finish from close range to go up 2-0 with eight minutes left.
The Demons struggled to generate looks for most of the first quarter. Durango was hesitant to cut or take its man one-on-one, resulting in a lot of passing away from the goal. Durango finally got some good looks late in the first quarter, but a goal was a second late as Crested Butte led 2-0 going into the second.
“We weren’t pushing as much as our attack could push,” Skarbek said. “We were getting pushed out … we had some set plays, but we didn’t execute.”
It took 16 minutes, but the Demons finally scored after a great cut and pass. Daniels found a cutting Huff for a close-range score with 7:56 left.
After their first goal, the Demons got a little sloppy on defense, missing ground balls, trying to pick up ground balls with one hand and flipping underhand passes that were intercepted. This resulted in two easy looks for the Titans, including an open goal off an intercepted pass. Crested Butte led 4-1 with 3:14 left in the first half.
The Demons took a little momentum into halftime. Wynn Daniels was having success feeding from the goal line extended, and he found Muraro on a nice dish and score with 18 seconds left, cutting Crested Butte’s advantage to 4-2 at the half.
Durango had a strong start to the half, causing a turnover and scoring early. Hasty picked up a ground ball that made its way across the middle of play and he finished into the lower left corner.
There was a lot of improvement for Durango at the face-off X, and the Demons got the ball back and scored a long-pole goal with Hooten to tie the game with eight minutes left in the third. Fortune looked to be on Durango’s side with a man-up opportunity, but the Titans scored in transition off a missed shot, putting Crested Butte up 5-4 with 7:07 left in the third.
It was a struggle to end the third quarter for Durango. Crested Butte did a much better job holding onto the ball and picking up ground balls. Durango had a few turnovers that led to easy goals for the Titans. The Demons struggled to get the requisite movement on offense to get good looks. Crested Butte ended the quarter on a 5-0 run to take a 9-4 lead into the fourth.
Skarbek said Wilson was fighting through a bicep injury that he suffered in the first quarter, which limited his play.
The Demons found something on offense to start the fourth. They started connecting on their passes and were shooting smart shots around the goal. Two Muraro goals cut Crested Butte’s lead to 10-8 with 6:30 left.
“Aaron McQuade, our assistant coach, said, ‘You have to play hard for 12 minutes; you have to give it everything you’ve got for 12 minutes,’ and look what we did,” Skarbek said about the fourth.
Durango cut the deficit to 11-9 with a beautiful spin move and score by Hasty, but the Titans always had the response with a goal with 90 seconds left.
The two teams match up again on Saturday at 10 a.m. at DHS.