Titans soccer wins season opener

“I was really pleased with how the boys relied on each other and stayed composed when the game got difficult”

by Than Acuff

The Crested Butte Titans boys’ soccer team learned a lot in their season opener on Saturday, August 22 holding off a second half surge from the Vail Mountain Rangers to eke out a 2-0 win.

The Titans coaching staff got some insight into their team during a day of scrimmages a week earlier but the game against Vail Mountain would continue to offer insights into their personnel, formation and team identity.

“I was cautiously optimistic, especially knowing we’ve struggled at Vail in the past,” says coach Matt Wilson. “I knew we would have to solve some problems on the fly, and I was interested to see how quickly this young group could adjust.”

Nerves were the name of the game for the Titans as they were hesitant to take risks and found the Rangers’ front three a formidable attacking unit and their midfield focused on getting numbers high to create chances. The effort of Crested Butte’s back four and Tanner Harpel in a defensive midfield spot were able to deny Vail quality looks though, and as the game wore on, Crested Butte gained their footing.

Rotating fresh legs onto the field provided extra energy to the Titans and they broke the stalemate 26 minutes into the game as Sid Presley slipped a pass through the Ranger defense and Kyle Moran collected it to slip it past the Ranger goalie for a 1-0 lead that would hold until halftime.

“The boys played very well and had some impressive moments early on, especially moving the ball and finding space behind their defense,” says Wilson. “Vail gave us some problems out wide early, but the boys adjusted, our defense settled in, and our goalkeeper did an excellent job keeping them off the scoreboard.”

Vail came out in the second half looking to disrupt the Titans flow with additional pressure on the ball higher up the field and their effort had Crested Butte pinned for much of the opening minutes of the second half. Shape and all-out effort were the saving grace for Crested Butte to hold onto their tenuous one-goal lead.

“They adjusted by playing more directly through the middle and putting us under a lot of pressure,” says Wilson.

Midfielder Tor Jennison started finding more success and space behind the Rangers and a concerted effort to get the ball wider and behind Vail’s defense started to pan out.

The Vail goalie made some big saves midway through the second half to hold Crested Butte well within striking distance, but the Titans nerves were finally quelled when Isaac Jennings played a set piece ball into the Rangers’ penalty area and Moran flicked his header over the Vail goalie to seal the 2-0 win in the final minutes of the game.

“The boys stayed composed, worked together and eventually found a second goal,” says Wilson. “I was really pleased with how the boys relied on each other and stayed composed when the game got difficult. They saw two very different styles of play and were able to solve both, which is a really encouraging sign for this group, but we still have a lot of work to do and need to continue competing as a unit.”

The Titans jump into the deeper end of the pool this Saturday, August 29 when they host 3A program Manitou Springs at the CBCS turf at noon.