Senior day couldn’t have gone much better for the Durango boys lacrosse team as the Demons beat Montrose 17-7 on Saturday afternoon.
It was one of the more dominant showings in the program’s recent history and a culmination of a decade of growth and continuity in lacrosse for the team’s seniors.
The six seniors were honored before the game. Assistant coaches Jeff Munger and Matt Muraro remember how they started coaching these seniors in second grade and this was the first group to play Durango rec boys lacrosse.
The Demons moved the ball beautifully on offense, capitalizing on Montrose turnovers. Durango’s offensive players could beat their man one-on-one and fired their shots on target, making it hard for the Montrose goalie to stop.
Senior goaltender Alex Gnehm made some great stops when he needed to keep the lead a healthy margin.
“I’m super proud,” Durango head coach Valeria Skarbek said. “We've been working for this all season long, since February.”
“Today was like a full-on team effort,” Durango assistant coach Todd Gaygan said. “A lot of players contributed. We had young players step up today. We had a freshman come in and play solid D and also a senior, Austin Stillwaugh, came in and played some great minutes. Then our big guys buried a lot of shots.”
Durango improved to 4-7 overall and 4-5 in the 4A Mountain League after its second consecutive win against Montrose. The Red Hawks fell to 2-10 overall and 1-9 4A Mountain League.
The Demons’ four wins are the most since the 2019 season. The 17 goals are the most since March 23, 2019. Durango’s 10-goal margin of victory was its biggest since March 22, 2019.
Senior Owen Muraro led the Demons with six goals and three assists. Durango senior JT Munger finished with three goals and five assists. Sophomore Logan Muraro finished with three goals for Durango.
“We're so lucky to have the seniors that we do; they've really helped guide the team and shape the team,” Skarbek said. “We're playing without a few players that were key for us because of grades and injuries. So to have the seniors come and step up today, I couldn't have asked for more. They did everything I wanted.”
The Demons got out to a great start in the first quarter. They moved the ball well, finding the open man for easy shots. When Durango lost possession, it pressured the Montrose defensemen and caused numerous poor passes, leading to turnovers.
Assistant coach Jeff Munger said the Demons have been working on their riding a lot in practice and it paid off.
Owen Muraro got things going with a rip from the left side from close range to put the Demons up 1-0 with 8:53 left. He scored again with about five minutes left off great ball movement. A Montrose defender lost Owen Muraro around the crease and the Demons found him for a one-on-one opportunity.
A few minutes later, junior Wynn Daniels scored from close range to put Durango up 3-0 off a nice pass from Munger. Owen Muraro quickly responded with a goal of his own with about two minutes left in the first quarter to make it 4-0 and deliver a first-quarter hat trick.
When the Demons weren’t scoring, they were solid on defense. Montrose didn’t get by many Durango defenders and had to settle for outside shots. Gnhem made some great saves, including a stellar stop where he laid out to preserve the 4-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Munger showed great skill a with a spin move around the left side of the crease for the score and a 5-0 lead with eight minutes left.
Disaster happened for the Demons a few minutes later when a Durango defender tried to roll the ball back to Gnehm but rolled it into his own goal for a Montrose goal.
Montrose scored its first real goal of the game with a nice rip from outside for a 5-2 deficit with 5:25 left in the half.
Logan Muraro responded with a goal for a 6-2 lead with four minutes left. The Demons continued to play solid defense and Montrose had some trouble catching some simple passes.
Jones and Logan Muraro finished late in the second to increase Durango’s lead while keeping up their pressure on Montrose’s defensemen.
Senior defender Zane Geygan had arguably the goal of the first half with a nice run down the right side. He placed his bounce shot perfectly into the top left corner with less than a minute to go. Durango led 9-3 at half.
“We're finally moving around more on offense and we're able to move the ball to cutters,” JT Munger said. “It's not just dodging and straight downhill. We'll move it around and find back door; it opens up everything, especially for me and Owen to finally dodge without slides.”
Montrose started the second half well with two goals in the first two minutes to cut the deficit to 9-5. The Red Hawks did a great job getting possession off the faceoffs.
Munger responded with a goal from close range to put the Demons up 10-5 with 7:14 left in the third quarter and Logan Muraro had a nice rip from outside that kissed the pipe and went in for the 11-5 lead.
The brotherly connection showed up late in the third quarter to extend the lead for the Demons. From behind the cage, Owen Muraro found a cutting Logan Muraro in front of the crease for the score. It was Logan Muraro’s third goal and the Demons led 13-5 after three quarters.
“He's earned every goal and everything,” Owen Muraro said about his brother. “He's the one running up the field. He might not be as big as everyone else, but he's running through everyone. He's huge on our clears and a huge part of this team. So, it was fun to get him that glory.”
Junior Grady Hooten scored early in the fourth quarter to keep the good vibes going. Durango played its bench in the fourth with its double-digit lead and got a lot of new players valuable minutes.
Durango plays at Summit on Friday at 4 p.m.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
