Sometimes a good, old-fashioned beating sparks a team.
At least that’s what Durango High School boys lacrosse head coach John Robinette hopes after a 14-1 loss to CHSAANow.com Class 4A No. 6 Battle Mountain High School on Saturday at DHS.
The Demons jumped out to an early 1-0 lead when Liam Millar found Jared Cook for a goal with 10 minutes, 20 seconds left in the first period.
It didn’t last long.
Crane McGuckin found the back of the net 13 seconds later for the Huskies to knot it at 1.
Battle Mountain (11-2, 7-1 Mountain League) scored 13 times in a row after that as well in a run of 14 unanswered goals for the rest of the game.
“It’s concerning that we were only able to score one goal,” Robinette said. “Credit to their D and their goalie, but we had too many unforced turnovers. We didn’t have very much time of possession.”
The Huskies held the ball and knew what to do with it in their sticks.
McGuckin wrapped up a hat trick with 5:47 left in the second period and netted his fourth with 8:47 left in the game to put the Huskies up 13-1 and start a running clock. His teammate Clayton Davis also scored four goals to tie for the team lead and had a hat trick in the first half.
Six different Huskies scored in the game.
“Groundballs was the No. 1 reason (we had that lead),” Battle Mountain head coach Jerry Nichols said. “Groundballs is possessions, and possessions is goals.”
DHS (8-4, 4-3 ML) had trouble holding possession.
The Demons’ passes weren’t as crisp as they were in Friday’s 7-6 win over Grand Junction, and they lacked polish around the net to finish.
“On offense, we couldn’t possess it as much as we wanted to. Their defense was definitely the best one we played this weekend, but I don’t think it was that,” said Millar, son of Lynn and Walter Millar. “I think we beat ourselves in this one.”
They tried to beat the Huskies on the field.
Groundball chases became shoving matches between the teams in a physical game that only featured one late slashing penalty after the result was sealed up.
“I think we kind of started it, in a way. We’re kind of a chippy team,” Millar said. “We’re a good, physical team, and we like to get into it with teams; we like to get intense.”
DHS was playing its third game in three days, winning the first two.
“It’s not ideal to schedule three games in three days, and I won’t try to be doing that again, for sure,” Robinette said. “I won’t try to make any excuses. That’s a good team. Did we play our best game? No.”
The Demons will play Telluride at 4 p.m. Tuesday in Telluride, then will close the season with a senior-day game against Fruita Monument at 4 p.m. Friday at DHS.
“We’re gonna be ready to go,” Robinette said.
kgrabowski@durangoherald.com
The threat of weather nixes DHS girls lacrosse game
The Durango High School girls lacrosse team’s game against Santa Fe Prep originally scheduled for 3 p.m. Saturday was canceled.
Weather concerns played a major factor, DHS athletic director Roxanne Perrin said.
The Blue Griffins didn’t want to drive all the way to Durango just to be rained out.
There weren’t immediate plans to reschedule the game since DHS and Santa Fe Prep already played earlier this season.
The Demons have one game left on their regular-season schedule at 11 a.m. Saturday against Eagle Valley at DHS.
heraldsports@durangoherald.com
