Titans soccer wins Southwest League title

Prepare for another trip to state

It was tight, so tight, but the Crested Butte Titans pulled it off, winning their final game of the regular season to take the Southwest League title for the second year in a row. The Titans will now head to the 3A state tournament as the number seven seed and will face Manitou Springs in the opening round on Friday, October 24 at 1 p.m. at Gateway Field on the Western State Colorado University campus.
Both Telluride and Crested Butte were in the mix for the league title with 10-1 records heading into the final weekend of league play. Telluride put the pressure on the Titans, winning their final game over Ridgway so it was up to Crested Butte to decide their destiny. A win would secure the title; a loss would leave them in second place.
The Titans had their hands full in their final game against the Montezuma-Cortez Panthers on Friday, October 17. It took overtime to edge out a 3-2 win over the Panthers earlier this season and the Titans were missing six varsity players for the final game due to October break and injuries.
As a result, the coaching staff had to call on the bench to fill key positions on the field in the game against Montezuma-Cortez, while the core of varsity players had to step up their game.
“We needed some of the younger players to step up and play well,” says coach Drew Canale. “We knew they could.”
Energy on the Titans team was high heading into the game until the third minute of play, when a handball in the Crested Butte 18-yard box gave the Panthers a penalty kick. Montezuma’s leading scorer converted and the Titans were down 1-0. The early deficit was nothing new for the Titans though; they’d been behind plenty of times before this season and had come back.
With players in new positions on defense, it took the first 15 minutes to get their wits about them but Josh Melnick and Nate Hoskin led by example to pull the back line together and hold off the Panther attack.
“The defense got their act together and started communicating better,” says Canale. “I was impressed how the team remained calm after that first goal. They played their game and it came around for them.”
Midfielders Sebastian Infante and Isaac Evans were on double duty all game, responsible for shutting down Montezuma’s star midfielder and initiating the Titan counter-attack. The effort can sap a player’s energy and the coaching staff looked to Jose Alcaron to step into the varsity mix as well as a center midfielder.
“The midfield played a great game and there’s no down-time for them so to have Jose step in was huge,” says Canale.
The Titans managed to control a majority of the play and build their attack out of the back. Sam Reaman and Kaleb Schultz found a connection 25 minutes into the first half when Reaman dropped the ball and Schultz beat a defender to drive a low hard shot under the Cortez keeper, tying the game 1-1.
The Panthers bring a lot of speed to the game though, and were a constant threat with their counterattack. The Titans defense recognized that, adjusted accordingly and set up the midfield to dictate play. The Panther keeper made a number of big saves in the second half but the Titans found a seam with 15 minutes left in regulation. Reaman broke free on a pass and cut it across to fire a shot. The initial strike banged off the crossbar but Infante was there for the rebound to stuff it home for a 2-1 Titans advantage.