Girls’ soccer falls to Telluride

Rebounds to pummel Center

by Than Acuff

The Crested Butte Titans girls soccer team returned from break last week and, after two practices to shake the rust off, headed to Telluride for a ski town showdown.

It can be a bit nervy after the break as the players have a full week off from workouts, but coach Julia Kidd felt they looked back on track during practices prior to the Telluride game.

“I don’t think the break affected them too much. They were looking good,” says Kidd.

The biggest hurdle for the girls soccer team was Telluride’s notoriously small turf field. That plays to Telluride’s advantage when they host teams, and it did against Crested Butte.

“Telluride looked good and they know how to play their field well,” says Kidd.

Telluride scored early in the first half to take the initial lead but Karina Davalos found a seam to net 15 minutes into the game to tie it back up, and the two teams were deadlocked in a 1-1 draw heading into the second half.

Ellia Pannier then put the Titans on top 12 minutes into the second half as she blasted a left-footed shot from the top of the 18-yard box. But Telluride responded 15 minutes later to tie up the game again and the two teams headed into overtime.

“I was feeling pretty good heading into overtime, as the energy was all ours,” says Kidd.

Unfortunately, Telluride fed off of the hometown energy and made quick work of the game, scoring the game-winner just 890 seconds into overtime for the 3-2 win.

“The girls were bummed but we can use this to build on as we finish out the season,” says Kidd.

Three days later the Titans hosted the Center Vikings in Crested Butte South and rolled to a 10-0 win. Despite efforts to not run up the score, the Titans were up 9-0 at halftime and then scored three minutes into the second half to force officials to enforce the mercy rule and end the game. Ten different Titans scored in the game.

The Titans are now ranked eighth in the state and have four games in their final week of the regular season, including a rematch with Ridgway and an overnight trip to face Pagosa Springs and Bayfield.

“We should win all four but Ridgway always gives us trouble,” says Kidd. “The goal is to finish ranked in the top four so we can get a bye through the first round of state. I believe in them, but we just need to stay focused.”

If the girls do not finish in the top four, they will host the first round of the state tournament on Tuesday, May 7.