After a tough loss against Santa Fe Prep on Friday, the skies cleared up and so did the space to shoot and score for the Durango girls lacrosse team on Saturday.
The Demons dominated at home from the beginning and cruised to a 21-3 victory over Montrose.
Durango improved to 6-6 overall and 4-3 in the 4A Mountain West League. Montrose fell to 1-11 overall and 0-6 in the 4A Mountain West League after the loss.
“We had lots of good ball movement and quite a few assists,” Durango head coach Eric Elliot. “In a game like this, that’s what we’re looking for.”
The 21 goals are the most scored for Durango in a game since the 2013-2014 season. Senior Annabel Carithers was one goal short of 100 career goals but pulled herself out of the game in the fourth quarter.
Individual stats were not available at the time of publication.
The Demons began scoring immediately after the first draw. Junior Jordan Menininger scored off a rebound to make it 6-1. Freshman Indie Eaton scored off a free shot to make it 7-1 with 5:43 to go in the first. Carithers scored off another free shot to make it 8-1 with less than four to go. Sophomore Taylor Babcock scored shortly after to make it 9-1 with 3:12 to go.
Montrose had no match for Durango’s stick skills and speed. Demons attackers had easy driving lanes toward the goal and could get wherever they wanted. Durango led 10-1 after the first quarter.
Durango continued to dominate possession as a running clock ticked down and some bench players got some run. Junior Sofia Naffziger finished from close range to put the Demons up 12-1 with 4:10 left in the second. Montrose put another goal on the board after 11 unanswered to make it 12-2 before Eaton used her speed to make it 13-2 with two minutes. Eaton drove to her right and put her shot in the top left hand corner. Senior Lucy Halverstadt scored right before the half for her first goal of the season. Durango led 14-2 at half.
Naffziger opened up the scoring for the Demons in the third quarter. Durango continued to dominate possession even with bench players in the game. The Demons led 19-2 after the third quarter.
Montrose did have an extended possession on offense in the fourth but junior goalie Fiona Chandler made the stops necessary to keep the Red Hawks scoreless.
Savannah Kolb for Montrose did have a nice spin and score around the crease to make it 19-3 with five minutes to go. Taylor Babcock quickly responded off the ensuing faceoff to make it 20-3 with four minutes left.
Durango sophomore Scarlett Ramsey scored the final goal of the day just before the buzzer sounded.
The Demons next play at Telluride on Wednesday. Durango is currently ranked 18th in 4A in CHSAA’s seeding index. The Demons need to be inside the top 16 to host a playoff game.
“We have our work cut out for us and I think one or two chips might have to fall into place,” Elliot said about hosting a playoff game.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
