The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Defense the focus for now
It was a learning experience for the Crested Butte Titans high school soccer team as they opened the regular season with the annual Classical Academy tournament Friday and Saturday, August 30-31.
For the past five years, the Titans have made the trip to the Front Range to see what kind of soccer is being played in other parts of the state. Actually, the Titans make the annual trip to play Friday night under the lights.
This year, the tournament was more than just about playing under the lights, though. The Titans are coming into the 2013 season with a young defense led by junior Josh Melnick, who is surrounded by a slew of sophomores stepping into varsity play for the first time. While the coaching staff has worked with the new defense, the Classical Academy tournament would provide the coaching staff and team insight into how the new defense is shaping up.
“It’s a work in progress and there are some wrinkles,” says coach Drew Canale. “We’re trying something new with them and it’s like learning a new language for these kids. We have high expectations of them and we’ll continue to work on it.”
They opened the weekend against Manual, a highly skilled, fast-paced team from the Front Range area. Manual took control of the game early, winning 50/50 loose balls and dominating everything out of the air to build a 2-0 lead by halftime.
The Titans adjusted and refocused at halftime and brought some newfound energy to the field for the second half. Junior Sam Reaman put the Titans on the scoreboard 20 minutes into the second half taking a pass just outside the 18-yard box and drilling his shot into the upper corner.
Ten minutes later, Manual was called for a handball in the penalty area and senior Prawit Durgan drained the penalty kick to tie the game 2-2.
“The difference between the two halves was better communication on defense and help from the midfield,” says Canale. “They played with new intensity.”
The game remained tied throughout regulation, forcing an overtime period with the first team to score taking the win, a.k.a. Golden Goal.
Crested Butte won the toss, took the kick off, pushed hard for a cross over the top but the Manual defense cleared the ball from danger. With the Titans pressed forward, Manual countered and scored 19 seconds into overtime to hand the Titans a 3-2 loss.
“They showed some resilience by coming back from a 2-0 deficit,” says Canale. “It was encouraging because they showed they had the fight a team needs to make a comeback. It was tough to lose but to be able to come back was a good lesson.”
The loss dropped Crested Butte into the losers bracket for the rest of the tournament and forced them to wake up early Saturday to face Alexander Dawson at 8 a.m. With a handful of injured Titans and a slew of freshmen looking to get some varsity time, the Titans coaching staff opted to mix some veterans with some first-year players for the game.
The decision turned what could have been a fairly uneventful win into a tight 2-1 battle as goals from junior Kaleb Schultz and another from Reaman plus solid play at midfield helped pace the Titans to their first win of the new season.
“That was big for morale and confidence,” says Canale.
Crested Butte returned to the blazing hot turf field at 2 p.m. Saturday to face Weld Central for their third and final game of the tournament.
The Titans have edged out a couple of one-goal wins over Weld Central in the tournament before, but this time around, Weld handed the Titans a harsh dose of revenge that had been stewing for the past two years.
With injuries to three starters leaving the Titan forces somewhat depleted, Weld Central dominated the first half to capitalize on miscues and build a 3-0 lead.
Senior Solon Gray and junior Isaac Evans did everything within their power to try to resuscitate the Titans in the second half and Durgan struck again, scoring off a set play from 20 yards out, but Weld proved too much to handle as they tacked on three more goals to win 6-1.
While the overall results were not what the coaches had hoped for, they did take some positives away from the weekend.
“It was great to get those younger players time in varsity games,” says Canale. “We’re going to need them throughout the season so we had to get their feet wet.”
The Titans will host their first home game of the season as they open league play against Pagosa Springs on Friday, September 13 at 4 p.m. They will then host Bayfield Saturday, September 14 at 1 p.m.
