Crested Butte Kickers fall short in co-ed soccer tournament

Another 1-1-1 weekend for local soccer

It’s an all too recurring theme for local adult coed soccer team the Crested Butte Kickers. The team appears to be in a bit of a rut the past couple years. After reaching the finals of the Crested Butte soccer tournament two years ago, they’ve spent the past couple summers finishing tournaments with a record of 1-1-1.

This past weekend was no exception, as the Kickers opened hot, had a solid effort against a young squad out of Boulder and then closed the weekend with a disappointing draw.
Yet, for some reason, the aftertaste wasn’t as sour as it has been in past years when the team finished a tournament 1-1-1.
For one, the Kickers team brought hustle, talent, experience and no expectations into the weekend. While the team never “practices,” turn-out for pick-up has been consistent among a core group of players, creating a viable foundation for success.
 Secondly, the team averted near disaster in its opening match of the weekend on Saturday, June 30, opening the tournament on a positive note.
The Kickers drew perennial tournament bottom-dwellers Winter Park and took immediate control of the game early. Typically, it can take the Kickers a while to create a scoring chance but when Joe Ballegeer turned on a pass inside the six-yard box to fire a shot on net five minutes into the game, things were looking good.
Winter Park countered two minutes later but Kickers net minder Ralph Landy came up with a big save to hold the scoreless tie through the opening 15 minutes.
Twenty-five minutes into the game, Landy took a quick look up-field and sent a booming punt up-field, catching the Winter Park defense sleeping.
Brandon Clifford jumped on the high bounce at the top of the 18 to battle the Winter Park keeper and knocked the ball back to Kady Otzko, who slipped into the open net for a 1-0 Kickers lead.
The Kickers came close in the opening minutes of the second half setting up two early strikes in close but couldn’t finish.
Then things got dark, very dark, as Winter Park scored twice in three minutes to take a 2-1 lead with 15 minutes left in the game.
Down 2-1 to Winter Park is a terrible place to be for any team, let alone the home team, but the Kickers rallied off the deficit rather than throw in the towel.
Landy, Clifford and Otzko connected once again as Landy sent another towering punt up-field, Clifford battled the keeper for the ball and Otzko snuck in to score and tie the game 2-2.
Six minutes later Matt Schmalz settled a ball just outside Winter Park’s 18, deked one defender and slotted a pass through to Molly Erickson, who blasted it top-shelf for a 3-2 Kickers lead.
Three minutes later Clifford and Heather Duryea iced the win as a quick one-two set up Clifford for a shot. His first strike hit off the near post but Duryea collected the rebound and dropped it back to Clifford on a platter and Clifford drove it far post for the 4-2 Kickers win.
The Kickers had their hands full the next game as they lined up against a speedy, well-organized Boulder squad.
Boulder had the kickers pinned in their defensive third almost the entire first half. Landy came up with several big saves and the Kickers defenders Dusty Perkins, Matt Gutter, Andrew Canale and Ian Elder held off repeated odd-man rushes into their penalty area to keep the game scoreless.
Boulder finally found a seam on the end line to score and take a 1-0 lead into halftime but again, the Kickers refused to fold.
The game could have easily finished the way it started but the Kickers realigned themselves to match up better against the Boulder attack and took control of the game in the second half.
Unfortunately, their efforts in the offensive third were stymied by Boulder’s tight defense as the eventual tournament winner Boulder team hung on for the 1-0 win.
A shot at the championship was out of reach for the Kickers Sunday morning when they took the field against Grand Junction. Adding insult to injury, the team was now down three players due to injury but they were determined to finish on a high note and opened strong, pressing for the first 10 minutes straight.
A corner kick offered the Kickers their first taste of the back of the net when Duryea’s shot was blocked, but Mike Martin settled the rebound and picked the upper 90 with a floating shot and a 1-0 lead.
Ballenger then created the next strike for the Kickers, jumping on a pass back to the Grand Junction goalie. Ballenger was tackled to prevent the open shot awarding the Kickers a penalty kick and Schmalz converted for a 2-0 Kickers lead.
Unfortunately, complacency, confusion and fatigue overcame the Kickers as they gave up two goals to Grand Junction at the close of the first half to go into halftime tied 2-2.
Team manager Than Acuff attempted to rally the team with some ramblings, mixing in a few choice expletives, and while the Kickers took back the game in the second half, the back of the net eluded them, leaving them with a big, ol’ sloppy kiss from their collective sister in the form of a 2-2 draw.
The Kickers have six weeks to recover and realign before they head to Telluride for the annual end of the summer adult coed soccer tournament.