The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Look to end season on high note
It was there for the taking. The Crested Butte Titans soccer team headed into the October break last week with a record of 5-2-2 in league play. They were hot off big wins over both Pagosa Springs and Bayfield and were knocking on the door of reaching the post-season.
All they needed to do was win their last three games, starting with the Ridgway Demons on Tuesday, October 16, and they had a chance at a bid for the state tournament.
The Titans handed the Demons a 3-0 loss earlier in the season so expectations were high among the coaching staff of Than Acuff and Mike Martin.
But they did lose starting striker Jesse Reeves to injury and they had a week off of school and soccer, both of which, among other things, eliminated all the progress the team made heading into the break.
“Every year we deal with the October break where the kids not only have a week off, but start training for other sports,” explains Martin. “So, our main objective is to get their heads back into playing soccer, which is hard to do with one day of practice before a tough game.”
And the Demons are a tough game. While they are young, their intensity shines through in big games and they showed it once again Tuesday evening in Ridgway.
The Titans opened the first half a bit out of step but displayed some of their mid-season intensity.
“The whole essence was there at the start,” says Martin.
That carried them and the ball into Ridgway’s half for most of the opening stretch but as the Titans players grew tired, they lost focus and Ridgway took control of the game.
“After the first 15 minutes we lost some key players on the field,” says Martin. “They just stopped playing.”
The Demons picked up their game considerably as well, winning 50-50 balls and finding a cohesive passing attack through the midfield.
The Titans defense was stout as always and goalie Ian Dethloff made a couple of key saves on corner kicks to hold the scoreless tie at halftime.
The second half was more of the same for both teams as the Demons continued to control the game while the Titans scrambled just to stay alive. The Titans put together a late game surge offering up two breakaways but the efforts missed the mark, sending the teams into two five-minute sudden death overtimes.
Crested Butte took control of the game for the first overtime period but continued to struggle in the offensive third of the field.
Again, as the Titans grew weary, Ridgway started to surge. They cracked one shot off the crossbar in the second overtime period and then put the game away one minute later with the game-winning strike.
While the loss of Reeves played a part in the Titans’ struggles on offense, Martin believes it was a combination of things that spelled Crested Butte’s demise.
“I think his breakaway speed and gelling with other players was a loss for sure, but I don’t know with him in there if it would have made a difference today,” says Martin.
The Titans finish the regular season at home this week. They host Alamosa on Thursday, October 18 at 3:30 p.m. and then Center on Friday, October 19 at 4 p.m. Both games are at Rainbow field.
“Hopefully we can finish the season strong as a team and as a family,” says Martin, “and keep this season in our minds as we move forward next year.”
