Titans soccer opens league play with draw against Telluride

Head to the San Juans this weekend

The pressure was on the Crested Butte Titans soccer team as they hosted the Telluride Miners on Friday, September 7 as part of homecoming weekend.
The fans were out in force including chief hill person Michael Blunck and in the end they were treated to a classic game of soccer as the teams played through 90 minutes to finish in a 1-1 draw.
Fueled by the energy of a packed house, the Titans took immediate control of the game for the opening 10 minutes. Three minutes in, senior Jesse Reeves broke free inside the penalty box to fire a shot, but the Miner keeper made his first of numerous brilliant saves that afternoon.
Once the initial surge of Titan adrenaline wore off, the Miners regrouped to take the game back.
The Miners took a 1-0 lead in the 12th minute, finding a seam on the weak side with a quick slot pass. The Miner midfielder gathered the pass and drove his shot off of the inside corner of the far post.
The goal rallied the Miners to take over possession and intensity while the Titans players started dropping like flies. Reeves was sidelined with an ankle injury. Senior Cal Fenerty took a clearing kick off the face, losing sight in one eye and retiring to the bench. Senior Dylan Curtiss collided with a Miner in the midfield and had to hobble off the field.
“We lost three seniors right off the bat and that set us up for disaster,” says coach Mike Martin.
“My hand was numb from pulling so much ice out of the cooler for the players,” adds coach Than Acuff.
The coaches called upon senior Jose Cantu and freshman Danny Stoneberg to fill the holes left in the defense. While the loss of the senior core left the Titans confused on the field and pinned in their half of the field for most of the first half, the replacements and remaining Titans held tight as Crested Butte limped into halftime down 1-0.
“I’m not sure if the team noticed,” says Martin. “They seemed to hold together and held off the rush. It could’ve been the school spirit and all the fans, could’ve been the work we’ve done with them the past three weeks, making them want to work for each other.”
Given the rivalry, Martin looked to the three injured players to return to action and they answered the call. Their presence made a world of difference on the field in the second half.
Led by the efforts of Prawit Durgan in the midfield, Dakota and Montana Wiggins all over the place and Curtiss on defense, the Titans regained their composure.
The two teams traded off rushes but as the second half continued, the Titans continued to gain strength. They caught a break in the 60th minute when Durgan drove a shot off a direct kick through the wall that found the far corner, tying the game 1-1.
The Titans kept pressing and had two more golden chances but the Miner keeper came up big with two more saves and the game finished in a 1-1 draw after 10 minutes of extended play.
“The difference in the second half was the intensity we brought to the field,” says Martin. “Telluride seemed winded so we had a little more time with the ball and we kept up the pressure.”
The Titans head to the San Juans for two league games this weekend against a couple of southern opponents.
“Coach Than and I have been working on the little things so we can go down there and show them how the north half of the conference plays soccer,” says Martin. “We’re hoping to come away with two hard-fought wins.”