Only two games into the season and still without their full varsity roster, the Demons are searching for some answers.
The Durango High School boys lacrosse team lost 11-4 at home to Fruita Monument on Saturday in the Demons’ second Mountain League game to open the season.
“We have a young team and still are learning and building chemistry,” DHS head coach John Robinette said. “We made some poor decisions defensively and a lot of unforced turnovers. Overall, we did better than we did a week before, and we’re looking forward to getting some key personnel back from winter sports they’ve been obligated to here later this week. That will give us a boost.”
Sophomore Kyle Robinette led DHS with one goal, two assists and six groundballs. He also was 5-of-8 on faceoffs.
Tanner Smith, a senior, added one goal, three groundballs and went 5-of-7 on faceoffs, a category DHS won 11-of-16.
Collin Barkley, a sophomore, added one goal and one assist, and senior captain Jack Marshall had one goal.
The game was scoreless until the final 2 minutes of the first quarter. The Wildcats scored two goals before the start of the second, with DHS adding one.
Fruita Monument took a 4-1 lead into halftime, and the Demons couldn’t solve any of their problems at the intermission.
“We made some adjustments, and it didn’t work in our favor. They put four goals in on four shots in the third quarter,” coach Robinette said. “We adjusted again between the third and fourth quarter, but it ended up 11-4.”
Junior goalie Hank Muir started the first half in goal for DHS before moving up to play defense in the second half. He made five saves and allowed four goals. Junior Bryce Gordon played the third quarter in goal, and he gave way to sophomore Andrew Brown in the fourth. Brown made one save.
DHS will get two players back from hockey and one Bayfield basketball player back next week, as winter seasons came to a close Saturday.
The Demons have three big games this week, with a trip to Bosque Prep in Albuquerque scheduled for Wednesday before a league clash with Eagle Valley at home Friday. Santa Fe Prep also will visit DHS on Saturday.
“The guys we are getting back will transition in pretty quickly and contribute right away,” coach Robinette said. “We’re still working to build chemistry after graduating all of our starters from last year, for the most part. We’ll keep improving every game.”
heraldsports@durangoherald.com
