Titans soccer earns two more tough wins

Home game Friday at 4 p.m.

By Than Acuff

No rest for the Crested Butte Titans soccer team as they just battled their way to tough wins over Delta and Salida and host Gunnison on Friday, September 13, and then hit the road to face Fountain Valley the next day for a total of four games over a seven-day stretch.

The Delta Panthers are gaining ground after a couple of down seasons and bring a high-paced style to the field that tests the mettle of any team they face.

“In the past, Delta has always been seen as a competitive 3A soccer program with technically savvy players who love to bamboozle opponents with their run and gun style offense,” says coach Matt Wilson. “We hoped to see a puzzle similar to that for our boys to solve.”

Saturday, September 7 was no different as they pushed the pace throughout the first half and the Titans looked to match the effort making for a wide-open game.

With Crested Butte’s back four firmly in place and organized, the midfield trio of Shawn Moran, Marin Gardner and Will Harpel started to find some room to move and create chances in the middle of the field. Their work paid off 26 minutes into the first half when Gardner played a long diagonal pass to Magnus Sandusky. The Panther defender got to the ball first, but Sandusky stripped him off the ball and buried his shot inside the far post for a 1-0 Titans’ lead that held until halftime.

“There were a lot of ups and downs in the first half mainly because Delta played a formation we had not yet seen this season,” says Wilson. “We started out composed and in control, but Delta’s run and gun offense proved to be very effective and had us on our heels at times. Needless to say, we were quite happy with a 1-0 lead going into the half.”

Delta made a few adjustments while still pushing the pace and it paid off when they tied the game 18 minutes into the second half followed by a frantic stretch of play.

“Delta continued to bring their run and gun style of offense in the second half and tied it up with a hustle play in front of the goal,” says Wilson. “The second half turned into a dogfight and you could tell our boys were not used to this style of play as it was starting to wear us down.”

Crested Butte retook the lead with five minutes left in regulation as Gardner slipped a pass into Moran at the top of the 18-yard box and Moran drove a low shot through the hands of the Delta goalie for a 2-1 lead.

Down 2-1, Delta put the pedal to the metal down the stretch creating a wide-open look on the Titans net but goalie Jakob Klemme’s diving tip save sent the ball off the crossbar and clear of harm’s way and the Titans closed out the 2-1 win.

“It’s hard to put this win and what it did for the morale of the boys into words, but when you have to grind out a win like this by fighting for every inch of space, then it tends to galvanize a team,” says Wilson.

After a day of rest on Sunday, the Titans headed to Salida on Monday, September 9 to face the Spartans for an entirely different beast of an opponent. Whereas Delta is run and gun, Salida brings a patient, possession-based style of play that looks to exploit teams when they make mistakes.

“Expectations were high for Salida’s skill level,” says senior captain Sawyer Barney. “We knew they were going to be one of the toughest challenges of the season.”

Crested Butte was on point throughout the first half with a compact defense that left nothing for the Spartans to exploit. The two teams traded off a couple of chances but no real threats as Harpel held court in the middle of the field, Archer Bernholtz, Beckett Kidd, Rocco Billingsley and Cy Buckel cut off any attack by the Spartans and goalie Wyatt Anders scooped up everything else that slipped through and they finished the first half tied 0-0.

“We were pretty happy with our first half performance and knew we just needed to make a couple tweaks and hopefully put in some goals,’” says Barney.

The Titans had a good start to the second half and initial pressure resulted in a foul by a Spartan player inside the 18-yard box for a Titans penalty kick. Moran stepped up to the spot and calmly buried it for a 1-0 lead 10 minutes into the second half.

Crested Butte’s back four continued to stay in step with Salida’s attack slowing down their dangerous flanks and the Titans then took a 2-0 lead midway through the second half when Barney took a pass from Gardner then turned and drove a shot from 25 yards out into the upper corner.

Salida shifted into chasing the game and while their attempts at long balls were easily handled, they did create a couple of chances building their attack but still struggled to find any open looks on net and Crested Butte finished with a 2-0 win.

“Once we cut off Salida’s ability to switch through their #6, we cut off their chances and were able to finish it out,” says Barney.

The Titans play at home this Friday, September 13 when they host Gunnison at 4 p.m. on the CBCS field.