Soccer season closes without a win for Titans

Gunnison takes second at post-season tournament

by Than Acuff

While the Crested Butte Titans put together their best day of soccer all spring at the post-season tournament Saturday, May 9, they still came away without a win. Gunnison, on the other hand, won the tournament semifinal game in penalty kicks to reach the tournament finals, only to fall to Basalt in the end.

It’s been a long, tough season for the Titans. Limited workouts and field time definitely played out as they faced teams with far more preparation each and every week. The Titans closed out the regular season 0-6 and were relegated to a round-robin post-season tournament.

They opened the day against Rifle primed for their first win of the season only to be thwarted by an uninspired effort in the first half that resulted in a 2-0 deficit at halftime.

The Titans recovered to put together a much improved game in the second half and were knocking on the door of a comeback until Rifle scored on a set play with 15 minutes left to take the wind out of the Titans’ sails almost completely.

In an effort to spark a little life on offense, the coaches moved Thomas Taaca to the striker spot and the switch played out as Taaca followed on a shot by Justin Smith to score but time ran out on the Titans as they fell 3-1.

The Titans finished the season with their most spirited effort all season against Montrose. All the players brought their A game to the field for one last hurrah and the mental shift paid off early as Taaca broke free eight minutes into the game to score and give the Titans a 1-0 lead.

Crested Butte continued to dominate possession through the first half but stumbled on offense with a disjointed attack that relied on Taaca breaking free again rather than a cohesive team push.

Montrose evened the score in the second half, converting on a direct, but the Titans struck back five minutes later when Oliver Houseman gathered a ball 25 yards out and drilled a shot past the Montrose keeper for a 2-1 advantage.

Unfortunately, the Titans’ first win of the season was eventually erased as Montrose converted on a penalty kick, leaving the two teams with a 2-2 draw.

Meanwhile, Gunnison was in the throes of a league title run on Saturday. They opened the playoffs in a hotly contested match against Glenwood Springs, the same team that took Gunnison down 4-3 just two weeks earlier. This time Gunnison put together a sustained effort for 90 minutes and then some.

Sebastian Infantes put Gunnison up 1-0 in regulation but Glenwood tied the game and the two teams battled through two overtimes before turning to penalty kicks to decide who would advance to the finals. Both Glenwood and Gunnison converted on their first four shots from the mark, but when Glenwood’s shooter missed in the final round, Infantes stepped to the mark to bury his penalty kick, winning the game for Gunnison.

“It was a battle,” says Gunnison coach Damon Parker. “Both teams had good possession and great defense. “

Parker touts his team’s complete game as the difference between the win Saturday and the loss earlier in the season.

“We just had more intensity throughout the whole game, we kept up the pressure and the intensity,” says Parker.

Gunnison advanced to the finals to face Basalt and the rigors of the two and a half hour match against Glenwood took its toll on Gunnison. While Gunnison managed to put together a couple odd rushes on the Basalt net, Basalt managed to turn them away and put together a sustained attack that eventually wore the fatigued Gunnison team down to beat them 5-0 when all was said and done.

“We were spent from that first game,” says Parker. “It was an awesome season.”

Both teams will have the summer off and then return to action this fall, with players from both squads joining forces on the Crested Butte Titans high school team.