Crested Butte soccer closes first half of season on top of league

Hit the road for biggest test of season

The Crested Butte Titans soccer team closed the first half of the season this past week with wins over Alamosa and Center, to improve their league record to 6-0. They now have their biggest test of the season as they head to Telluride on Tuesday to kick off two weeks of soccer on the road.
 The Titans win over Alamosa on Friday, September 27 was a first for Crested Butte. Since Alamosa joined the league four years ago, the Titans have suffered numerous disappointing losses.
With that in mind, the Titans looked to shed the Alamosa albatross with a win on Friday, but it did not come easy. For starters, the weather rolled in as game time approached, with players battling random snow squalls. The weather had a debilitating effect on the Titans attack as passes continued to miss their marks and were poked away by the Alamosa midfield.
Once the weather settled, so did the Titans. They eventually found their groove as senior Prawit Durgan found junior Kaleb Schultz with a pass and Schultz finished for a 1-0 Titans lead.
The Titans added a second strike 10 minutes later when junior Sam Reaman slotted a pass through to junior Issac Evans and Evans poked it past the Alamosa keeper to put the Titans up 2-0.
But Alamosa has a hex on Crested Butte and started to inflict their San Luis Valley magic on the Crested Butte team. Their effort paid off as they pulled within one goal of the Titans, threatening to turn a win into another disappointing loss.
But the Titans remained calm in their approach and once the weather cooperated again, Crested Butte took back control of the game. Midfield play by Durgan and Evans maintained possession for the Titans and the back four of sophomores Thomas Taaca, Danny Stoneberg, Nate Hoskin and junior Josh Melnick turned away any and all Alamosa counterattacks.
The team effort proved the difference as freshman Cameron Curtiss came off the bench to poke a pass to Schultz, who netted his second goal of the game to seal the 3-1 Titans win.
“They played pretty well but the unorthodox Alamosa defense held pretty strong,” says coach Drew Canale. “We still got the W.”
A somewhat lethargic Titans team then returned to the field on Saturday, September 28 to host the Center Vikings. Center plays a heavily defensive style of game with speed their biggest weapon up top.
With Melnick out due to an injury, Hoskin was pushed into the middle and sophomore Ashton Mabry called to fill in on the outside. The young defense did their job holding the Center speed at bay and giving the Titans offense some time to figure out how to crack the Viking defense.
Reaman and Schultz connected twice, with Reaman finishing one and Schultz the other for a 2-0 Titans lead. Center converted on a set play to close the gap by halftime but the Titans returned to the field in the second half determined to blow the game open.
Schultz opened the scoring taking a pass from Durgan and threading his way through four defenders to push the ball past the Center keeper.
Reaman added the next two Crested Butte goals to complete the hat trick and then Ionut Sustic came off the bench to find the net twice for a 7-1 Titans win.
“Having a one-goal lead is always a little scary so we had to motivate the squad to pump a few more goals in,” says Canale. “They put together a really good second half and were able to secure the win.”
Crested Butte is now sitting on top of the league standings but have six games over the next two weeks, five of which are on the road, opening with Telluride on Tuesday, October 1.
“They’re off to a great start and getting better with each game, which is always the goal,” says Canale. “Now it’s all about the players taking care of themselves, fine tuning their game, keeping the energy high and a lot of pickle juice. Telluride is going to be hungry and it’s important for us to play well there.”