Crested Butte soccer notches first spring win

Losing streak stopped at five

Things are getting a little better for the Crested Butte spring U-18 soccer team. For one, they were able to get their first workout on grass last week, which allowed the coaches to broaden their scope of instruction.
“It was a big help to be able to practice on grass,” says coach Drew Canale. “We were able to work more on defensive positioning and on shooting.”
And while the practice was brief, it did make somewhat of a difference on Saturday as Crested Butte lined up to face Gunnison again that morning.
Crested Butte lost to Gunnison two weeks ago 8-1 but the team seemed slightly more refined on the field the second time around. Unfortunately, a couple of mishaps early quashed much of the team’s spirit. Gunnison goalie Taylor Weeda sent a deep punt into Crested Butte’s defensive third that hit off a Crested Butte defender’s head and into Crested Butte’s net for the first goal of the game. Three minutes later a second miscue in front of their net led to another easy Gunnison goal.
“It’s hard to go down 2-0 in the first 10 minutes but they didn’t give up,” says Canale.
Crested Butte worked diligently on their total game and managed to string together a series of possession-style attacks but Gunnison’s defense proved impenetrable as they turned away the Crested Butte attacks repeatedly.
Crested Butte suffered another mishap, relying on a penalty inside their own 18 to stop a Gunnison attack and Gunnison converted on the ensuing penalty kick to take a 3-0 lead into halftime.
Gunnison’s pressure and speed continued to make the difference in the second half as they managed to find small seams through the midfield and onto Crested Butte’s goal. Gunnison scored three more in the second including another penalty kick to hand Crested Butte a crushing 6-0 shutout.
Jorge Rodriguez and Sebastian Infantes shared in the other five goals joining Weeda on the Gunnison score sheet.
“It was a similar result but I thought we played a little better than the first time,” says Canale. “We just got beat by a better team.”
Crested Butte lined up 45 minutes later that day to face Fruita for the second time this season. Fruita beat Crested Butte 5-0 the first go around but were missing some of their hot shots in the rematch, allowing Crested Butte to match up against the Western Slope squad.
Crested Butte struck first as Isaac Evans carried the ball to the end line and through three Fruita players before finding Sam Reaman alone on the weak side with a pass, and Reaman stuffed it home.
Reaman scored again later in the game taking a pass 20 yards out and drilling his shot top shelf for a 2-0 Crested Butte lead.
Fruita battled back to threaten the two-goal Crested Butte lead in the second half but the Crested Butte defense turned away the attacks to clear the ball of the front of their net.
Crested Butte added to their lead with 20 minutes left in the game when Patrick Seifert slipped past two players to fire a shot on net. The Fruita keeper made the initial save but Gus Hensley followed to push the rebound through for a 3-0 Crested Butte lead.
Fruita finally found the back of the net, scoring off a long throw late in the game but Crested Butte ended up holding on for the 3-1 win.
“We got our first win, which is encouraging,” says Canale.
The team has one more weekend of season play in Gunnison on Saturday, May 3 when they face two teams from Delta/Hotchkiss before heading to Grand Junction for the post-season tournament on Saturday, May 10.
“The 1-5 record doesn’t really matter as long as we keep playing a better and tighter soccer game,” says Canale. “We’d like to see the team really come together for the end-of-the-season tournament.”