The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Post season in flux
The time was prime for revenge on Tuesday, October 19 at Rainbow Field.
The Crested Butte Titans soccer team faced the Telluride Miners looking to avenge a loss they suffered at the hands of Miners at the beginning of the season.
Unfortunately, a similar script played out on Tuesday as the Titans fell to the Miners 3-2. A win would have further secured a spot for the Titans in the post season. But now with the loss, the Titans shot at the state tournament appears fleeting with one game left in the regular season.
Intensity made the difference Tuesday afternoon. The Titans started the game flat as Telluride looked to gain an early advantage. Fortunately, the Titans back four of Sky Egelhoff, Nolan Blunck, Tanner Gordon and Nicholas Mikeska were solid as usual, holding off the initial Miners’ surge.
The Titans recovered enough to offer up a handful of goal scoring opportunities but the shots missed the mark and the two teams went into halftime notched in a 0-0 tie.
After surviving the first 40 minutes, Crested Butte stepped up the play in the second half, winning loose balls and finding the open man. In the ninth minute a pass to Jesse Reeves gave him a step to fire a shot. The Miner keeper made the initial save but Sam Evans followed on the loose ball to push it by, giving the Titans a 1-0 lead.
Crested Butte continued to press on offense, forcing more chances on net, but shots either hit the keeper in the chest or missed the cage entirely.
Telluride took advantage of a quick surge in the 23rd minute to net the equalizer, but the Titans responded two minutes later when Evans cracked a shot from 25 yards out into the upper 90, putting the Titans back on top 2-1.
Telluride threatened to tie the game once again 10 minutes later on a blistering shot from 20 yards, but Titan keeper Ben Frame leapt to his left to deny the shot and push it wide.
But Telluride refused to fold, owning the final 10 minutes of the game with pure hustle. They pushed up on a direct kick from 20 yards out to crash the net and poked the tying goal through in the final minute forcing overtime.
The game was ultimately decided on another free kick by Telluride when a chip from outside dropped inside the six yard box and four Telluride players were there with one finishing on a head ball to seal the 3-2 Titans defeat.
Crested Butte wraps up the regular season in Ridgway on Thursday, October 21. A win could offer the Titans a chance at the post season whereas a loss would mean the end of the 2010 season for the Titans.
