The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Home game Saturday at 11 a.m.
By Than Acuff
The Crested Butte Titans girls’ soccer team just wrapped up two more games against non-league opponents as they hosted Buena Vista on Tuesday, March 18 and then hit the road to face Delta on Friday, March 21 and came away with a 1-1 tie and a 2-1 loss.
It’s been a pretty stacked start of the season for the Titan girls as they scheduled several tough non-league opponents to open the season. While the Titans handed Buena Vista a 3-1 loss during the regular season last year, Buena Vista went on to reach the 2A state finals before falling so coach Tom Lewis and the team knew it would be another big early season battle.
“We knew they’d be good because they didn’t graduate many starters from last year’s team,” says Lewis. “It’s also a bit of a mini rivalry because all of the girls know each other so there are some emotions involved.”
Throw in another tough weather day as snow and cold pelted the Katy O. Rady field at Western to start the game leaving both teams a bit stiff to start the game. As the game wore on the Titans started finding space on the flanks to attack and some slots down the middle to provide chances but struggled to find the finishing touch. Meanwhile, the Titans defense continued to do their job of holding off Buena Vista leaving nothing for them to work with when attacking the Titans’ net.
The constant pressure by Crested Butte eventually paid off in a corner kick and Madeline Fitzgerald and Calla Fenlon combined on a short corner play to set up Fenlon for a hit and Fenlon drove the ball over the Buena Vista keeper and into the net for a 1-0 Titans’ lead.
“It’s a corner routine we’d been using since last spring and they made a great choice to run it then,” says Lewis. “I’m super proud of them for thinking on their feet.”
Crested Butte maintained their 1-0 lead until a miscue gave up a goal to Buena Vista early in the second half to tie the game 1-1 and neither team managed to score a second leaving the teams with a 1-1 draw.
“We did really well getting the ball into the final third, we’re just missing a little bit of spark in and around the box,” says Lewis. “It was another great learning lesson and great that we went through it in our third game of the season.”
The Titans then hit the road to face the Delta Panthers on Friday, March 21. The Panthers are a perennially strong 3A program who punched its way to the state semifinals last year and have one of the most prolific scorers in the state.
“She’s the best player we’ll play against by far,” says Lewis. “But we had a game plan and did pretty well dealing with her.”
In addition to the plan to stop Delta’s standout, the Titans also had their possession-based plan of attack in place to create a couple of early chances. But Delta had a fast centerback that stymied a lot of the Titans chances until the 37th minute of the first half when Summer Martin slipped a pass through Delta’s back line and Molly Miller ran onto it holding off a Delta defender to poke the ball past the oncoming Delta keeper for a 1-0 lead.
Unfortunately, the Titans’ lead was short-lived as Delta converted on a corner kick 90 seconds later to leave the teams locked in a 1-1 tie heading into the second half.
The Panthers pressed hard through the opening 20 minutes of the second half but with the Titans defense organized and compact, they found little to work with in close. Meanwhile, the Titans started the half looking to send Miller through down the middle but as Delta turned each attempt away, Crested Butte shifted their plan looking wide more than up the middle.
“We had to figure that out and we did,” says Lewis.
Still, Delta’s defense was equally stout and the Panthers continued to push on the Titans earning a set piece just outside the penalty area 31 minutes into the second half. Delta’s top scorer stepped to the ball and drilled it into the upper corner for a 2-1 lead that would remain until the final whistle.
“I was happy with the way we played,” says Lewis.” If we can continue to recognize the strengths and weaknesses of other teams and adjust like we did, we will have more success against the 2A teams.”
The Titans are on the road this week for two matches and then return home to host Loveland Classical on Saturday, March 29 at 11 a.m. on the Katy O. Rady field on the Western campus.
