After Durango High School girls lacrosse had its biggest loss of the season to Palmer Ridge last week, the Demons responded in the best way possible with a 13-2 senior night win over Santa Fe Prep on Friday night.
The Demons started fast and never looked back. Durango looked like it had another gear compared to the Blue Griffins, especially in transition. Santa Fe’s offense never got in rhythm since the Demons’ defense was aggressive and precise with their stick checks, along with gobbling up every ground ball.
Durango had a seven-goal lead at the half and cruised to victory. In the process, the Demons’ seniors got a few goals to cap an excellent senior-night win.
“I think I’m undefeated on senior nights and so is the team, so that’s pretty good,” Durango head coach Eric Elliot said.
Durango improved to 8-3 overall with the win, and Santa Fe dropped to 0-2 overall. Junior Indie Eaton led the Demons with four goals and two assists. Freshman Janelle Dingler had three goals and three assists, and senior Taylor Babcock had three goals and an assist for the Demons. Junior goaltender Jody Holden finished with six saves.
It was a fast and fantastic start for the Durango offense with three goals in the first four minutes. Sophomore Keelyn Reynolds did a great job of deflecting passes and getting in passing lanes. This led to transition opportunities for the Demons, which is when they are at their best. Eaton drove in from the left side and scored the first. Dingler followed with two more from the left side for the 3-1 lead with 8:46 left.
Elliot was pleased with how his team started, since it’s the Demons’ goal to score early and often to see what the opponents are made of. He thinks Reynolds’ 10 caused turnovers are a school record.
“It almost seems like she’s setting up her defender to go by her,” Elliot said about Reynolds. “She’s looking for the back check right away, because you can almost see, as soon as they get shoulder to shoulder, she’s peeking around and getting it, and then it’s that hockey player mentality. She’s anticipating the pass and jumping in front of it.”
The pace of the game slowed down the rest of the quarter. Santa Fe struggled to maintain possession, but its keeper did a great job of making multiple stops from close range on Dingler. Durango kept its 3-1 lead going into the second quarter.
Durango got things going early in the second quarter, with Eaton passing from near X to Babcock in front of goal. Holden made two nice stops as Durango increased its lead. Reynolds showed her offensive capabilities with a great left-handed shot on a tight angle for her first goal of the season.
Possession was a problem for Santa Fe. It did a decent job on the draw in the first half, but struggled to avoid stick checks and bad passes. Durango took advantage by scoring in transition off those turnovers. Eaton was a blur in transition and created in the set offense as the Demons took an 8-1 lead into halftime.
The second half was more of the same for Durango. The Demons dominated possession and didn’t let Santa Fe establish any rhythm on offense. Durango could’ve been up even more, but it missed some easy looks as it led 11-2 going into the fourth.
It was an excellent fourth quarter for the Durango seniors as Babcock had the assist on Eaton’s goal, and senior Scarlett Ramsey scored her second goal of the season.
There was a nice senior night ceremony after the win to celebrate Babcock, Laurel Dondlinger and Ramsey.
“They mean everything,” Elliot said about his seniors. “I always knew what I was getting from the girls from an on-the-field standpoint. But their leadership is amazing. I was really surprised to see the level of leadership that the three of those guys had. We have 10 new players, and only one of them had experience. Now it’s getting harder to pick out who hasn’t played before, and it’s in big part thanks to the senior class.
Durango plays at home against Telluride on Wednesday at 4 p.m.