The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
“Our hustle is there but we’re not playing our game”
One win, one loss and one tie is not necessarily a bad way to start league play. Could be worse. Then again, it could be better.
The Titans came into last weekend looking to put together two wins over a couple of league opponents but hit a bump in the opening game against the Pagosa Springs Pirates on Friday.
The Pirates and Titans have a long history of close contests and barring a couple of exceptions, their games are typically decided by one goal.
This past match-up was much like the rest. Unfortunately the Titans ended up on the wrong end of the one-goal differential.
Pagosa’s notorious hustle tends to dominate play and the Titans’ success rests on two things: matching and exploiting the Pirate attack.
While the hustle was there for the Titans, they neglected to exploit Pagosa’s offensive surge with any semblance of counter-attacks.
While the back four of the Titans defense remained intact for all of the game, the midfield and strikers struggled with Pagosa’s pressure on the ball.
The teams traded off a couple of close calls in the first half and were notched in a scoreless draw by halftime.
As the second half wore on, Pagosa’s pressure wore on the Titans, forcing them into bad touches and poor decision making.
It paid off for Pagosa with 12 minutes left in the game when a turnover at midfield resulted in a long ball by Pagosa into Crested Butte’s defensive zone. The defense was in position to turn the ball back up-field but a communication breakdown resulted in a hurried clear over the endline for a Pirate corner kick.
The Pirates converted on the ensuing set play, punching home the loose ball to take a 1-0 lead.
“That corner was the direct result of two factors,” says coach Than Acuff. “Pagosa’s pressure all game and lack of communication on our part.”
The Titans offense continued to sputter in the final 10 minutes as Pagosa sealed the fate of the Titans team.
“We just did not play our style of game,” says senior captain Jesse Reeves. “We hustled for the most part—we just didn’t have our heads on.”
Crested Butte remedied the situation the following day against the Bayfield Wolverines. The wake-up call of the loss to Pagosa spurred the Titans to a new sense of purpose and play.
Furthermore, the coaches made a slight adjustment to the line-up to facilitate a more cohesive attack through the midfield and on offense.
“We moved a few players around to where we thought they could be more effective,” says coach Mike Martin.
But the big difference came in the Titans’ communication, as talk among the players allowed the team to perform at a much higher level.
Sophomore Kaleb Schultz took to his new spot in the midfield and put the Titans on the board 12 minutes into the game, slashing through the Bayfield defense to get a clear run to goal and find the back of the net.
Five minutes later, sophomore Sam Reaman settled a ball at the top of the 18 and dished it off to Reeves, who pushed the ball past the Bayfield keeper for a 2-0 Titans lead at halftime.
Bayfield opened the second half in control of the game as the Titans struggled to regain their composure. A couple of close calls by the Wolverines woke the Titans back up and after 10 minutes of play, they regained control of the game.
A defensive stand offered up a counter-attack by the Titans as Schultz took the pass out of the defensive third and slotted the ball to Reeves for Reeve’s second strike of the game and a 3-0 lead.
Reaman and Reeves connected again to complete the hat trick for Reeves. Elisabeth Desmarais and Jose Cantu capped the scoring with 15 minutes left in the game as Desmarais slipped a pass through to Cantu for a breakaway and Cantu finished for the 5-0 win.
“We came out with a lot of intensity, our communication was better and we started to spread the ball wide,” says Reeves. “I think Sam and I worked well together, Kaleb did a good job seeing the field and we got Cal [Fenerty] more involved in the offense.”
The Titans faced the Ridgway Demons on Tuesday and will head to the San Luis Valley on Saturday, September 29 for a double-header against Alamosa and Center. Positive results in all three games would improve the Titans’ record significantly.
“In the end what were trying to change is our effectiveness on the ball,” says Martin. “Our hustle is there but we’re not playing our game. We’re trying to keep these kids tuned in.”
