Girls’ soccer battles bigger non-league opponents

“We wanted them to match Durango’s physicality, and they did that”

By Than Acuff

For the past several years, Crested Butte Titans girls’ soccer coach Tom Lewis has been on a mission to get his team tougher opponents and last week was a great example of it as the Titans hosted one of the top teams in 4A, Durango, and then the very next day hit the road to take on Manitou Springs finishing the week splitting the games.

The Durango Demons are perennial 4A state contenders and were ranked sixth in 4A when they came to Crested Butte on Friday, April 3.

“We want to test ourselves against better teams outside of 2A,” says Lewis.

Durango brings a physical game to the field, so the coaches called on their players to meet the challenge.

“We wanted them to match Durango’s physicality, and they did that,” says Lewis.

The Demons struck five minutes into the game but rather than fold under the pressure, the Titans started punching back pressuring the Demons in the midfield to create turnovers and turn them into attacks.

The scoreline held into halftime and Crested Butte continued to battle with the Demons throughout the second half but Durango held on for the 1-0 win.

“They were clinical in their moments, and we missed our chances, you have to finish the chances that are presented to you,” says Lewis. “The big positive was tying them 0-0 in the second half while creating chances. They proved they can go toe-to-toe and raise their level and match teams like Durango.”

The girls got on a bus the next morning to play the Manitou Springs Mustangs, a 3A team that took the Titans down 3-1 last year. While play was disjointed at first, the Titans appeared to shake off the bus ride and the game from the day before to start dictating the game using width to run at the Mustangs.

Manitou scored on a set piece 15 minutes into the game, but Crested Butte remained on point in their plan and their effort paid off as Calla Fenlon scored on a set piece from 25 yards out to tie the game 1-1 heading into halftime.

“We were knocking on the door, and it was nice to relieve some of the pressure,” says Lewis. “We were able to find the wingers in the first half but weren’t really doing anything off that so we asked the wingers to create more opportunities and the team to get more players in front of the goal.”

With the backline of Kalyn Buckel, Rio Crabtree and Lola Wright leaving little for the Mustangs to work with on offense and the Titans midfield moving the ball quickly, Crested Butte stepped up the pace in the second half and found success on the right side with Jacey Deroche getting loose and sending crosses into the 18-yard box.

Crosses still went unattended but 15 minutes into the second half, Fenlon corralled a loose ball off a Mustang player and slipped it through to Molly Miller. The Manitou goalie came off her line, but Miller touched it past her and ran onto the ball to punch it in for a 2-1 Titans’ lead.

“That was a relief, and we could see the pressure drop a little bit,” says Lewis.

Crested Butte continued to maintain possession and pace and Lewis rotated players into the game looking to preserve the win.

“I put subs in to close the game out and told them to play less risky and let’s walk with a 2-1 win,” says Lewis.

They did, yet continued attacks resulted in one last goal with four minutes left as Madalyn Fitzgerald played a cross in front of the goal with Titans in the box and the ball slipped to Miller on the far post. After hitting the post on her first shot, she followed to tap in the rebound to seal the 3-1 win.

“Shout out to the girls,” says Lewis. “They just played a physical game against Durango, had a four-hour bus ride and pushed their opponent to their limits physically. The defense shut down everything, and our goalie didn’t really have much to do.”

The Titans head to Bayfield on Thursday, April 9 for what appears to be an easier match-up for Crested Butte than the last two they just endured, so Lewis and the coaches will task them with an additional effort.

“It will allow us to work on some things that we’re trying to get the girls to do at a higher level,” says Lewis.

The team then heads into the April break next week and return to action with three games the week they get back.

“After spring break it’s chaos,” says Lewis.