The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
“It was a very strong opening weekend for the Titans”
[ by Than Acuff ]The Crested Butte Titans boys’ soccer team open every season against one of their toughest opponents on the schedule playing two 3A programs, the Roaring Fork Rams and then following that up with the Basalt Longhorns.
The two opponents always provide a good gauge of how the Titans are looking after just two weeks of training and based on the results and the effort of the team through both games, Crested Butte appears to be on a solid trajectory to start this season.
They opened the weekend of home games with the Rams on Friday, August 22 knowing full well it would take their best effort to match wits with Roaring Fork. As a result, a plan was in place and whether or not it was implemented was up to the team.
“We knew Roaring Fork would be a tough challenge after their deep run in the 3A playoffs last year, so our focus was discipline on both sides of the ball,” says coach Matt Wilson.
The Rams did take an immediate advantage on ball possession but with the Titans’ team defense well-organized, the Rams struggled to crack the seal on their attack. They had a couple tidy combinations to find a few openings throughout the first half but anything that did get through for shots was turned away by Titans’ netminder Jakob Klemme or poked away by center defenders Archer Bernholtz and Beckett Kidd.
“We set up in a patient, composed mid-block, allowed them to move the ball laterally, and waited for the right moments to attack with numbers,” says Wilson. “The boys stuck to the plan, left everything on the pitch, and executed brilliantly.”
The Titans did create a couple of chances on counterattacks, but the Rams’ defense was equally stout, and the two teams entered halftime notched 0-0, a place Crested Butte liked.
“Defensively the boys were locked in, and Jakob came up with some massive saves to help keep us level at half,” says Wilson. “Offensively we created chances but couldn’t find the back of the net. Still, we felt in control, and with a few adjustments at halftime, we knew the goals would come.”
The difference came in the 13th minute of the second half on a corner kick as Tor Jennison played the ball to the back post and Bernholtz banged home the header for a 1-0 Titans’ lead. The Titans struck again with 10 minutes left as Shawn Moran poked a through ball to Max Naughton and Naughton tucked it home to ice the 2-0 win.
“The boys fully believed in the game plan and in each other,” says Wilson. “The second half was physical, but our patience, composure, and fitness down the stretch proved decisive in giving us the edge over Roaring Fork.”
Crested Butte then faced the Longhorns on Saturday, August 23 and Basalt brought the energy from the opening kickoff overwhelming the Titans to eventually score 12 minutes into the game.
“Credit to Basalt, their energy and physicality right out of the gate was impressive and they scored a quality goal off an early chance,” says Wilson. “But our boys stayed calm, trusted our shape and didn’t get rattled.”
That composure by the Titans would result in scoring the next three goals to take a 3-1 lead into halftime. Max Naughton started it off drilling a shot from 25 yards out to tie the game 1-1. Five minutes later Shawn Moran headed home a corner kick from Tanner Harpel and then Moran scored again running onto a flick pass from Naughton.
Crested Butte remained in the driver’s seat in the second half scoring in the 60th minute when Bernholtz headed another corner kick in and then Magnus Sandusky chased a through ball down to fire a shot that bounced off the keeper and Emery White punched home the rebound to seal the 5-1 Titans’ in.
“The response came from senior leadership and determination from everyone in blue,” says Wilson. “The seniors lifted the team up with their composure, our attack started finding lots of space in behind and once we equalized, the boys settled in and showed Basalt exactly what they were capable of.”
With the first two big tests of the season passed, Crested Butte hopes to continue improving and notch another positive result when they face Caprock Academy in Grand Junction on Friday, August 29.
“It was a very strong opening weekend for the Titans,” says Wilson. “The boys showed resilience and class, adjusted to different challenges and finished the games with authority and control. We still have plenty of areas to fine-tune on the pitch, but it’s a promising start and gives us the momentum we wanted heading into the season.”
