The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Homecoming game Thursday, September 17 at 4 p.m.
by Than Acuff
After a 4-0 thumping from the Salida Spartans on Thursday, September 10, the Crested Butte Titans boys’ soccer team recovered to beat the Lotus School for Excellence Meteors 5-1 on Saturday, September 12.
There was no question the Salida game would be tough for the Titans. The Spartans were a perennial 2A powerhouse the past two years and are looking to make some waves at the 3A level this year with 10 seniors on their roster and being undefeated heading into the game against the Titans.
“I knew Salida was going to be an extremely tough opponent,” says coach Matt Wilson. “They have a very solid, well-coached program, and I expected a physical contest against a big, strong and organized team that wanted to possess the ball and overwhelm us with their size and maturity.”
Salida took immediate control of the game tactically, technically and physically to press on the Titans for the opening 30 minutes. While the Titans managed to hold off the Spartan attack, the constant pressure soon wore Crested Butte down as Salida scored two goals in the final eight minutes to take a 2-0 lead into halftime.
“Unfortunately, we had two significant defensive breakdowns, and Salida was intelligent enough to make us pay for them,” says Wilson. “We were playing a pretty good first half, but they were able to overwhelm us across the board and capitalized on our mistakes.”
Crested Butte opened the second half with a more concerted effort catching up to Salida’s play at first, but the stronger side shone through as the Spartans scored two more goals to hand the Titans a 4-0 loss.
“Salida was simply more consistent throughout the game, and our younger group was not mature enough to handle that level of pressure for a full 80 minutes,” says Wilson. “We found some important holes in our game, and we’ll be a better team moving forward because of it.”
Crested Butte licked their wounds and returned to action on Saturday, September 11 to host Lotus, another perennial 2A stronghold. This time the Titans took the front foot from the opening kickoff and found the back of the net in the 11th minute when Kyle Moran headed home a corner kick from Will Stitt for a 1-0 lead.
Lotus gained momentum after the initial strike shaking off the long bus ride to equalize in the 32nd minute but Crested Butte had the final say of the half when Issac Jennings sent a long set piece into the Meteors’ 18-yard box and Tor Jennison headed it over the oncoming goalkeeper for a 2-1 lead at halftime.
“That goal was a game changer because it solidified our confidence and allowed us to regain the momentum heading into halftime,” says Wilson. “It was a massive hustle goal from one of our senior captains and exactly the kind of leadership the boys needed to see.”
Crested Butte stepped back on the gas to open the second half and added to their slim lead nine minutes in as Tanner Harpel slotted a pass through to Moran and Moran tapped it past the goalie and into the back of the net for a 3-1 lead. Fifteen minutes later the Titans tacked on a fourth goal as Tyler Jeffery ran onto a pass from Jennison and then crossed the ball to Moses Wright wide open in the 18-yard box for Wright to smash it home, much like his uncle John did for the Titans almost 20 years ago.
The icing on the cake then came three minutes later as Moran rose up again to head home a corner kick from Sidney Presley to finish off the 5-1 win.
“Our boys played a much calmer, confident and collected game against Lotus. We were locked in from the very first whistle,” says Wilson. “It felt really good to see the boys respond the way they did after a tough loss just two days earlier. They rallied around each other, and that response really galvanized the group and showed the kind of character this team has.”
The Titans have a big week ahead of them with a road game against Delta and then their Homecoming game against the Telluride Miners on Thursday, September 17. The Miners are currently 5-1 and also bring in a veteran team with 12 seniors on the roster.
“Telluride is going to be an extremely difficult challenge, but one we will be ready for,” says Wilson. “We are nursing a few injuries in some key positions, and we’re going to need all hands on deck with everyone fully committed if we want to come away with a win.”
