The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
“We feel everyone is pulling in the same direction and putting side before self”
By Than Acuff
With the April Break looming, the Crested Butte Titans girls’ soccer team was looking to go in on a high note and did that and more taking down the Bayfield Wolverines 10-0 on Friday, April 11. While the Titans knew it would be a fairly easy contest, they still had some goals in mind for the day and reached each one with certainty.
“Our two goals were to win the game, and keep a clean sheet,” says head coach Tom Lewis. “We ended up hitting both goals, so it was a great way to enter spring break.”
In addition, Crested Butte was looking to use the game as an opportunity to use a new formation, one they believe could pay off in the latter stages of the regular season and into the playoffs.
“We planned to rotate players through with the new formation we played, allow players to step off the field and see everything being out of the chaos,” explains Lewis. “We feel it suits our personnel better than a 4-3-3, but we will continue to use that formation when needed.”
The new formation and the pace and play of Crested Butte overwhelmed Bayfield from the opening kickoff. The Wolverines remained diligent in their efforts to play the ball from the back with possession, yet the Titans pressure had the Wolverines pinned early to create scoring chances. The chances soon became reality when Calla Fenlon drove a shot to the corner for a 1-0 Titans’ lead seven minutes into the game.
Seven minutes later Fenlon broke free on a pass from Brie Polster to score, Cecilia Naughton banged one in from 35 yards out three minutes after that and then Molly Miller scored off an assist from Nora Thomes another three minutes later for a 4-0 lead by halftime.
Crested Butte continued firing on all cylinders in the second half with a couple goals the result of quality quick passing and others off team pressure on Bayfield. Naughton set up Miller for the Titans’ fifth goal nine minutes into the second half, Fenlon scored her third of the game two minutes after that and then Thomes and Fenlon combined to set up Thomes for Crested Butte’s seventh goal. Camila Salcedo, Miller and Hallie Hicks then finished it off scoring the Titans’ final three goals for the 10-0 win.
Crested Butte is now in the midst of the April Break with no games until Tuesday, April 22 when they host Ridgway and then hit the road on Thursday, April 23 to face Telluride. Two league games in which they intend to keep working on their new formation.
“We are looking to use it against Ridgway and Telluride,” says Lewis. “Both should provide a better test of us in our 3-5-2 than Bayfield, although the Bayfield game was needed to allow us to have lots of success in our patterns and movements.”
From there the Titans will face another big challenge when they host the top team in 2A, Colorado Springs Christian.
“We will assess what is best for us when we play Colorado Springs Christian,” says Lewis. “I think we are finding our feet as a group, chemistry is forming, and we have developed an understanding of each other on the field and off the field. We feel everyone is pulling in the same direction and putting side before self.”
