{"id":23176,"date":"2025-03-12T11:52:35","date_gmt":"2025-03-12T17:52:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/panthers-showcase-youth-in-season-opening-draw\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T04:28:38","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T04:28:38","slug":"panthers-showcase-youth-in-season-opening-draw","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/panthers-showcase-youth-in-season-opening-draw\/","title":{"rendered":"Panthers showcase youth in season-opening draw"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Panthers
Panthers freshman Emilynn Hill and Demons sophomore Sasha Kingsford battle for the ball in a match on Tuesday at M-CHS. Erika Alvero\/Special to The Journal<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

CORTEZ \u2013 Eighty minutes into the 2025 spring season, one thing has become clear \u2013 the future is now for Montezuma-Cortez High School soccer.<\/p>\n

Fielding a team that featured varsity newcomers in the front six of their formation, the Panthers ushered in a new era for their program in a 1-1 draw against Ridgway on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

The Panthers scored in the 74th minute through one of their freshmen, as Mia Glazner took a through ball from senior Jordi Mahler to fire home from 12 yards out, tying the contest.<\/p>\n

\"M-CHS
M-CHS goalkeeper Aubrey Rutherford slides in to snuff out a Ridgway attack in a match against the Demons at M-CHS on Tuesday. Erika Alvero\/Special to The Journal<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Montezuma-Cortez
Montezuma-Cortez senior Jordlan Mahler strikes the ball over the foot of Ridgway sophomore Kylee DeLuccio during Tuesday afternoon\u2019s game between the two schools at M-CHS. Erika Alvero\/Special to The Journal<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Panthers
Panthers freshman Di\u2019Nya Manual competes with Demons freshman Izzy Katzfor the ball in a match on Tuesday at M-CHS. Erika Alvero\/Special to The Journal<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

It was a goal that the hosts fully deserved, as they dominated the final 20 minutes after falling behind 1-0 on Ridgway junior Addy Gardiner\u2019s 59th minute sharp-angle rocket.<\/p>\n

Gardiner nearly doubled the Demons advantage, clattering another long-range effort off the crossbar, with the long rebound actually spurring the Panthers counterattack that led the Glazner equalizer.<\/p>\n

The Panthers (0-0-1) doubled up their opponents in terms of shots and high-quality chances, as Mahler nearly smashed home the winner five minutes from full time, only for the Demons to come up with the save.<\/p>\n

Glazner nearly opened the scoring in a first half controlled by the Panthers, pulling a shot just wide from the top of the penalty box. Classmate Emilynn Hill wreaked havoc down the channels for the Panthers attack, and nearly had a goal 10 minutes before the intermission, but her shot raced across the face of goal.<\/p>\n

Another Panthers freshman, Di\u2019Nya Manual, missed by just inches midway through the second half after a well-weighted pass from Glazner found her at the penalty spot.<\/p>\n

Freshman Kyndall Schmitt helped the Panthers control the midfield, while seniors Emily Howell and Halee Kibel anchored the central defense, limiting the Demons to scant opportunities on senior Aubrey Rutherford\u2019s goal.<\/p>\n

Against a stern test to open up the season \u2013 the Demons were a 2A state tournament qualifier last year \u2013 a draw to open the campaign felt like a springboard of confidence for the Panthers.<\/p>\n

Second-year head coach Melody Harris welcomes the challenge of developing a group that\u2019s cutting their teeth at the high school level. \u201cOur freshman class has so much talent, and with our returning group, there\u2019s a ton of potential on this team,\u201d said Harris. \u201cI\u2019m excited to see the type of soccer that we\u2019re capable of.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a mashup of students from several area schools for Harris\u2019 group, with representation from Dolores and Dove Creek joining the M-CHS crew. With many of the players stepping on to the field just days after the basketball season ended, developing chemistry is the next step, according to the Panthers head coach.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith almost a brand-new team, we came in a bit nervous because it\u2019s the first high school game for many of them \u2013 it\u2019s understandable \u2013 but with more time on the field, they\u2019re going to learn to work together,\u201d added Harris.<\/p>\n

Sophomore Kaybree Smith and freshman Jordyn Erautt provided big lifts off the bench for the Panthers \u2013 and finding the right roles for each player to showcase their skills will help the Panthers catch stride in time for when IML play commences in April.<\/p>\n

The Panthers head to the Front Range for matches against Atlas Prep on Friday and Rye on Saturday with high hopes of continuing the unbeaten start to the season before the Panthers return home on Mar. 25 to face Ignacio.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

First-year players make immediate impact, bolster upperclassmen core<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23177,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[38,39,28,37,36],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-23176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-dolores-high-school","tag-dove-creek-high-school","tag-headlines","tag-mancos-high-school","tag-montezuma-cortez-high-school"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23176","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23176"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23176\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78007,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23176\/revisions\/78007"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23177"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23176"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=23176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}