It’s hard to believe the 2000 girls soccer season is drawing to a close. The Panthers travel to Grand Junction High to play a Southwest League match at 5 p.m. Friday, April 28, and then remain in the area to visit Palisade at 10 a.m. Saturday, April 29.

"We have such a young team and I see improvement in different things we do," MCHS head coach Barbara Cullington remarked. "We usually play a lot of freshman and a lot of sophomores. The sophomores right now are the heart of this team. It’s hard to win games when you play against teams that have mostly seniors and a few juniors. But the girls are hanging in there and they are improving all the time."

Despite losing 7-0 to powerhouse Durango on April 20, and 3-1 to Montrose on April 18, the Montezuma-Cortez High School girls soccer team continues to show improvement.

"Right now we are really playing well," Cullington reported. "We are playing hard and the girls are working hard. If we continue to work hard then we should end the season on a bright note against Grand Junction High and Palisade (April 28-29)."

The Demons did not completely dominate the Panthers like they did in the first meeting which Durango won 9-0 back on March 14 in Cortez.

"Last time we only got one shot goal. This time we got 14 shots, so that’s somewhat of a moral victory. A goal we set before the game was to hold Durango scoreless for at least 10 minutes. We held them scoreless until 10:48, so we accomplished that. We have to accomplish little goals, especially against a team like that, and take little steps," she said.

Durango led 3-0 at the end of the first half. The Demons scored at the 42nd, 54th, 58th and 78th minute marks in the second half. The final goal was a penalty kick by Lanny Barnes. She also had a couple more goals during the contest. Cortez’ Kelli Unrein spent the game in the goal crease and saved 22 shots.

"I thought we did a pretty good job considering Durango has a veteran team," Cullington added.

Nicole Stephens got off a beautiful shot that just missed. Jennifer Siracusen also made a nice shot that barely missed, Cullington reported.

Against the Indians, the Panthers played well at times.

Nikkie Fuchs was back protecting the net after being out-of-town on a family emergency. She did let a couple easy shots go at the 15th and 38th minute marks in the first half. The score remained 2-0 until the last minute when the Indians scored again.

"We played Montrose more than even in the second half. In fact, I would have to say that we dominated. The ball was on the attacking half of the field most of the time. I think they only crossed the mid-field line a couple times during that half."

Cortez made 11 shots on goal while Montrose took 18, most of those coming in the first half.