Crested Butte soccer falls short of late season surge in Junction

Gunnison rising

The hope was that after a long, tough regular season the Crested Butte U18 spring soccer team would rally for the postseason tournament and bring home the coveted Bronze Boot trophy last weekend in Grand Junction.
Well, they didn’t.
The past two springs, Crested Butte peaked for the tournament after mixed results during the regular season. Two years ago they lost in the finals to a powerhouse out of Glenwood Springs. Last year, Crested Butte rallied their way through the first two rounds of the tournament but due to a “unique” scoring format by tournament organizers, Crested Butte was denied a shot at the title, settling for an overtime win in the consolation game to place third.
Things were looking up for Crested Butte heading into the postseason this year. Sure, they finished the regular season 1-7 and last in the standings but they managed to get a couple workouts on grass and were rejuvenated by the fresh air and the thought of taking the Bronze Boot tournament trophy.
They opened the tournament Saturday morning against DC Force White, a team that had taken Crested Butte down twice in league play. But the energy was on the side of Crested Butte and they established possession and control of the game early on.
Unfortunately, another foul inside Crested Butte’s penalty area gave up another penalty kick and DC Force White converted to take a 1-0 lead.
As the game wore on though, DC Force White wore down and Crested Butte took complete control of the game in the second half. Heeding the words of their coach, Crested Butte continued to push the pace of the game, working the flanks and seizing on the Force’s dwindling energy.
The effort paid off 20 minutes into the second half as Sam Reaman pushed forward from midfield to take a pass up the side. Reaman dropped his defender and fired a low shot on net, forcing the keeper to lie out for the save and push the ball wide. Gus Hensley crashed the far post to find the ball free and punched the rebound through and tie the game.
Crested Butte struck again 10 minutes later when Hensley slipped a pass through the middle behind the Force defense and Ian Dethloff charged onto the ball to beat the keeper for the game-winning strike.
The 2-1 win set up Crested Butte for a rematch with Gunnison in the semifinals immediately following the game. This would be the biggest challenge for Crested Butte, having lost to Gunnison twice during the season by a combined score of 14-1. Furthermore, as is often the case in tournament play with Crested Butte, injuries rendered key players useless for the big game.
Gunnison came out as they always do, fast and frenetic, pushing numbers up on offense to cause the Crested Butte team to collapse. Crested Butte goalie Josh Pruett made a big save early and the Crested Butte defense of Josh Melnick, Danny Stoneberg, Nate Hoskin and Thomas Taaca held off the initial surge but misfortune hit Crested Butte once again. As Gunnison pressed, Crested Butte looked to play a ball back to Pruett in net but the service was a bit harder than anticipated and the ball shot past Pruett for a morale-crushing own goal.
Crested Butte reorganized on defense to help corral through balls to Gunnison’s speedy strikers but the midfield struggled to keep pace and Crested Butte’s attack was held in check. Gunnison added a second goal and closed the first half in command 2-0.
Still, the game was far from over and Crested Butte was in position to mount a classic soccer comeback to get a shot in the finals, but hopes were quickly dashed. Crested Butte opened the second half extremely uninspired and Gunnison seized the opportunity to put the game out of reach, rattling off two more goals and eventually finishing Crested Butte off 5-0.
Gunnison’s rise has been a bit more dramatic over the past two springs. They entered the spring league as a new team, finishing in last place in both the first and second years of existence. This year they took the league by storm, finishing in second place with a record of 4-2-2.
On Saturday they were looking to finish the dream season working from worst to first as they lined up against a stacked Fruita team in the finals. They lost to Fruita 4-2 a week earlier and were looking to exact revenge. Unfortunately, Fruita proved too much for the Gunnison team, taking Gunnison down 4-1 and leaving Gunnison one win shy of a miraculous three-year ascent, but nevertheless leaving the Gunnison team well positioned for continued success in the future.