One more game.
The Montezuma-Cortez Lady Panthers (3-8-1, 1-4-1 4A/5A Southwestern League) have one more contest to end the 2016 spring season on a high note.
On Tuesday, the Lady Panthers dropped their final home game of the season to rival Durango (11-3, 9-1 4A/5A Southwestern League) in a 5-0 shutout.
“It was disappointing, but Durango has a tough team and they’re young and talented,” said M-CHS head coach Nate Ross. “I think we marked them well and took away their space, they just have a couple of quick players that turned a couple of our defenders and had shots on goal.”
Durango led 2-0 at the break and finished with three more goals in the second, getting scores from Sarah Vierling, Taylor Klone, Lane Arnwine, Madeline Robertson and Lauran Morrisey.
Ross credited the Demons, but also noted that the Panthers had some unlucky bounces and gave up a goal on a penalty kick for a handball in the box.
“I’m happy with how we stayed focused and stayed resilient and played hard,” he said. “Our girls are having to play 80 minutes per game – most of them – and they’re still competing with these girls. They’re still frustrating the heck out of these large 4A and 5A teams. So it’s a tribute to the talent and the heart of our girls.”
Ross reiterated that his team was playing against much larger schools, and it was obvious looking at the number of players on each bench. According to the last enrollment numbers used to determine the classification of CHSAA member schools, Durango’s enrollment was at 1,043 – while Montezuma-Cortez had 623.
For this reason, the Lady Panthers will move down to Class 3A next season and join a league with the likes of Bayfield, Ignacio and Pagosa Springs.
So their final game of the season on Thursday against Pagosa Springs (10-4, 10-2 3A Region 5) serves as a preview for 2017.
“I want these girls to have confidence finishing out their season,” said Ross. “To go into Pagosa and just utterly dominate that team is going to give us nothing but confidence knowing that that’s going to be our league – that’s going to be one of our opponents that will count towards playoffs and count towards going to state.”
The Panthers and Pirates clashed on Thursday in Pagosa Springs, but the results were unavailable at the time of printing.
