Cross Country also opened its season at the weekend
Sean Ackerman, head coach of the Durango boys soccer team, won his first game as head coach at Legend on Friday, 1-0. (Durango Herald file photo)
Fall sports are officially back and all fall sports in Durango have officially begun. All teams have at least a few exciting storylines that will be exciting to follow as the season progresses.
The Demons boys soccer team got off to a great start late last week. On Friday, Durango opened the season with a 1-0 win at Legend, which went 12-4-2 last year and made it to the 5A quarterfinals.
Durango senior Eli Williams scored the winning goal off a corner kick with less than five minutes left. Senior Mavrick Rodriguez was credited with the assist. Durango soccer head coach Sean Ackerman picked up his first win as a head coach. He said the team played defense for most of the game and didn’t break through until late.
On Saturday, the Demons continued their road trip with a 0-0 draw at Rampart. Ackerman said the team had some chances to score a game-winning goal, but didn’t have the best passing quality or chances.
“I’m extremely proud of them,” Ackerman said. “We basically had a week to come together and then we worked on our work ethic all summer long. To be able to get some results here against a team that made the 5A quarterfinals and finished fifth in the state last year is huge for us. So we’re very confident. I have a lot of confidence in the guys after some good performances.”
Ackerman praised the play of junior Derek Caudle, senior Jack Preston and senior Duncan Madrigal.
The Demons will be back in action in Farmington on September 3rd at 6 p.m.
Durango girls volleyball beats Delta 3-1 to open season
If the Durango volleyball team can maintain the poise it had Saturday in Delta going forward, the Demons can make a splash.
Durango beat Delta 3-1. The Demons won the first set 25-18 and Delta won the second set 25-20. Durango won the third set 25-18 and the fourth set 26-24.
Durango managed a comeback in the fourth set. After trailing 22:16, senior Tyler Trujillo served and tied the score at 22:22 with two aces. Durango’s volleyball head coach Kelley Riffilato praised Trujillo’s composure and confidence in those moments.
Veteran outside hitter Avery Rike led the Demons with 13 kills. Junior outside hitter Devyn Edwards had 10 kills and junior Hadyn Neiman had nine kills.
“She’s dynamic,” Riffilato said of Edwards. “She’s been playing volleyball since she was born. Her sister plays at Fort Lewis, she just comes to play all the time … They tried to outdo Devin and Devin just stepped up and did a fantastic job. She’s so composed for her young age. If you didn’t look at our roster, you wouldn’t know she’s a freshman. She’s very wise for her age. She’s done great. Avery Rike has done fantastic. She’s really coming into her own. She had a great winter season. She’s in top form and doing some great things for us.”
Riffilato was pleased with the even distribution of shot attempts. She noted that the team was a bit nervous at the beginning of the season and made some bad shot errors.
The Demons played a unique lineup without a libero against Delta. Riffilato said she got creative and moved some players around during the game.
Demons Softball splits series in Montrose 1-1
After a difficult start to the season with an early loss to Eagle Valley, the Durango softball team rebounded on Friday with a 17-11 win in its second game at Montrose.
The Demons should have won the first game on Friday as well. Durango was ahead 8-1 after three innings, but blew the lead and lost 18-12.
After the two games, Durango’s record was 2-4 overall and 1-1 in the 5A/4A Southwestern League.
“It’s unreal,” said Sara Clair, head coach of the Durango softball team. “We’re scoring over 10 runs a game right now. We’re scoring a lot of runs, but every game there’s one or two innings where the defense just falls apart. Our biggest problems right now are defense and mistakes.”
Durango Cross Country finished 13th in the boys and girls at Norris Penrose
The Durango boys and girls cross country teams got a taste of what the state championships might look like in a few months at the preliminary state championships on Friday at Norris Penrose in Colorado Springs.
Both teams competed in the championship division, which Michael Fadil, head coach of the Durango cross country team, said represents a step up in competition from what Durango normally sees.
The boys’ team finished 13th out of 19 schools, while the girls’ team finished 13th out of 16 schools.
Senior AJ Bonanno was the top boy from Durango, finishing 36th with a 5K time of 16:54.5. Freshman Caden Voss finished 52nd with a time of 17:10.7, making him the second fastest male Demon.
On the girls side, sophomore Lacy Ruggiero led the girls with a 36th place finish and a time of 21:08.8. Senior Bryn Aggeler ran a nice race and took second on the Demons girls with a 44th place finish and a time of 21:22.3.
“Time-wise, the boys ran really well,” Fadil said. “The three boys who ran at the state meet last year were all 10 to 25 seconds faster than they were at the state meet. Everyone looks good. We’re training longer and harder right now, so I’m not surprised no one set the world on fire. The girls’ times are really hard to compare because even though they ran at 6 p.m. and the boys ran at 6:40 p.m., the weather was much warmer at 6 p.m. The sun was still beating down and it was hot.”
