Crested Butte Titans girls’ soccer opens with win and tie in Grand Junction

“The girls reacted well with three goals in that second half”

[  by Than Acuff  ]

After two weeks of preseason training the Crested Butte Titans girls’ soccer team got their first test of the season last weekend in Grand Junction with games against Basalt and Aspen and came away with a win and a frustrating scoreless tie.

With so much talent on the team, the coaches used the two-game stretch as an opportunity to continue searching for the right personnel and line up and start building some cohesion on the field.

“We went into the weekend to fix the issues we had last season that caused us to tie Basalt,” says head coach Tom Lewis. “And get everyone used to playing with different people while managing the result.”

In the first game against the Basalt Longhorns Friday, March 13 things played out as hoped with contributions coming no matter who was on the field.

The Titans’ determined play on the flanks created a handful of early opportunities as Thea Barney found room to move with Molly Miller on the right side. Basalt’s defense remained in place to clear crosses, and their goalie came up with a couple of key saves though leaving the Titans one touch short of a goal.

Crested Butte remained composed in their efforts with a commitment to possession and moving the ball to the other side to try their luck on the left. The finishing touch continued to elude the Titans but when fresh legs came on the field in certain attacking positions the constant attack and quicker step made the difference as Calla Fenlon threaded a through ball to Siri Wight and Wight poked it past the Longhorn keeper 30 minutes into the game.

“It was great that Siri was able to go on and do that,” says Lewis.

The Longhorns managed to stave off the Titans’ constant attack through the rest of the half but had little to work with in their attack as defenders Kayln Buckel, Lola Wright and Izzy Acuff rotated on the outside to shut down the flanks and Rio Crabtree remained unflappable in the middle to keep the 1-0 lead going into halftime.

Crested Butte brought another gear to the second half and scored in the first five minutes when Miller stripped a Longhorn defender of the ball and played a cross for Fenlon to volley in for a 2-0 lead.

The Titans continued to dominate possession and players rotated onto the field off the bench to keep fresh legs allowing the Titans to outwork Basalt in the midfield with Hadley Brewer, Camila Salcedo and Cecilia Naughton remaining in control in the midfield.

Once Nora Thomes, Miller and Fenlon returned to their roles in attacking positions the Titans scored again as Miller beat her defender to tap the ball past the Longhorn goalie and as the ball trickled toward the line, Fenlon put the finishing touch on it for a 3-0 Titans’ lead.

Four minutes later Madalyn Fitzgerald found room out wide for another cross and this time Fenlon got to the ball before the Basalt defenders to settle it and score putting the final touches on the 4-0 shutout.

“We told them we need to score one or two more goals, last year we allowed Basalt back in the game,” says Lewis. “The girls reacted well with three goals in that second half.”

The Titans returned to the field on Saturday to face the Aspen Skiers to face an opponent that, as the game went on, was solely focused on playing for the tie.

The Titans had their chances to score in the first half but either Aspen’s goalie made the save or Crested Butte’s shots were off the mark.

Crested Butte continued to dominate all elements of the game to keep the ball in Aspen’s half nearly the entire second half as well, but it was evident that the Skiers were holding out for the tie as they packed nearly their entire team into the defending third and managed to hold off the succession of attacks for the 0-0 tie.

“It makes it difficult to break a team down when they sit back,” says Lewis. “We had our chances to score that, in the future, we will finish. Moving forward we just need to be more clinical. It’s difficult to be dialed in this early in the season in the attacking third.” 

Goalkeeper Haley Roberts finished with two shutouts in her first two starts as a varsity keeper.

“The defense and goalkeeper stayed focused and did what they needed to do and that’s why we finished with two shutouts,” says Lewis. “All around it was good to get the minutes we did for everybody. It was a good learning weekend and a positive weekend.”

Crested Butte continues with non-league matches this week with a road game against Buena Vista before they host Delta on Friday, March 20 at 4 p.m. 

“We hope to maintain how well our goalkeeper and defense is compact and linked to everyone and build a little more in the center so we’re more of a threat centrally.”