Senior Day marked the end of a struggling soccer season for the Montezuma-Cortez High School Panthers.
The boys lost Tuesday 11-0 at Johnson Field to rival Durango. M-CHS finished 1-14 and winless in Southwestern League play.
However, only three seniors will graduate and just two were four-year players.
Everyone else will be back.
I feel like were still playing better every game. Every half of every game were getting better and better and better, Panthers coach Dave Frame said afterwards. Even in this game, I feel like it ended up on a high note. Im excited about next year. Weve really learned a lot. Weve come a long way. I look forward to carrying on next fall.
Seniors Tanner Elliot, Stephen OConnor-Seville and Bryan Tripp were recognized before the match.
They worked hard and didnt let up this year, even under the circumstances, with such a young team, Frame said about his seniors. Im proud of them. They showed leadership, they worked hard, they didnt let up, and I think theyre pretty pleased with the season.
Elliot did not play because of an injury. OConnor-Seville, a senior at Dolores High School, left it all out on the field one last time.
Its my senior year. I think we all just stepped it up, he said. We kind of got (upset) and just stuck with it a lot more. We were a lot more physical in the second half, so we held a lot better.
Durango (9-3-3, 6-1-3 4A SL) quickly jumped out to a 2-0 lead with goals from Taylor Graham and Jerry Watson in the seventh and ninth minutes. Grahams score was off a penalty kick. Tim Hubertus added consecutive goals in the 18th and 21st minutes, and Abel Garcia netted two at the 22nd and 30th minutes. Devin Lewis had the assist on Garcias first score. Graham would score again before the half in the 36th minute to give the Demons a 7-0 lead at the break.
We wanted to make sure the boys tried to play a crisp game. Pass the ball around, keep some possessions. I thought they did that pretty well, Durango coach Kenny Wood said. For about 15, 20 minutes in that first half, we started to play really direct, just looking for through ball after through ball.
Panthers sophomore Auston Hart had eight saves in the first half at goalkeeper.
In the second half, the Demons had to create more scoring opportunities, because the Panthers manned up and made the match a physical one.
Durango was able to score four more times in the second against freshman goalie Bridger Brenner. The youngster did record 10 stops in 40 minutes.
It was like a transition year for Cortez soccer, said O-Conner-Seville, who wants to play soccer in college and study engineering. The next couple years, theyre going to be a great team.
Tom Olson got on the board for the Demons in the 44th with a solo shot. Two minutes later, Trace Whitley hit one from 40-feet on the left angle that traveled over Brenners outstretched arms to the back of the net.
Graham netted his third goal of the contest in the 49th, and Lewis notched his second assist in the 64th minute to Brock Ontiveros.
All in all, I thought our boys played pretty well, Wood said. I mean, Cortez, theyre a young squad. I think, over the next year or so, theyll be able to hang with some of the teams in our conference.
Reach Bobby Abplanalp at bobbya@cortezjournal.com.