JAMES DURNIN (3) AND BRIAN CONE (18), both members of the Montezuma-Cortez High School varsity boys soccer team race to the ball as a Grand Junction High player also heads after it during action Saturday morning at Norman Johnson Memorial Field. The Tigers won the hard-fought game 2-1. MCHS will play one more time this season at Piedra Vista in Farmington this Thursday

By Jim Thomas
Journal Sports Editor

The Panthers and the Indians kissed on Friday, Oct. 12, but for the Panthers it turned out to be the kiss of death. Any chances of a post-season playoff game in Class 4A ended with that 3-3 double-overtime score at Norman Johnson Memorial Field. Cortez had to beat Montrose, a team they had lost to earlier in the season, and defeat Grand Junction High the following morning in order to make the playoffs. They lost to the Tigers 2-1.

"I thought we played pretty well both Friday and Saturday," MCHS coach Todd Starr said following the game Saturday morning. "Traditionally after a Friday evening game we don’t play well the next morning. But we played very well today. We seem to have trouble with stamina, but this was a real good game."

With about 10 minutes gone in the first half, Grand Junction High got on the board when Omar Vasconez scored on a breakaway. MCHS was attacking most of the first half and made several shots on goal. Jeff Yarbrough did a nice job filling in as goalie in the first half. The Tigers liked to play kick and run but the Panthers’ defense intercepted those long kicks. The Panthers were possessed the ball most of the first half.

MCHS nearly put two shots into the net early in the second half, but both barely missed. The Tigers missed a chance when they couldn’t score following a one-on-one breakaway. Then from about 50-yards out, Derek Bihr booted the ball and it sailed into the top of the net. GJHS led 2-0.

The Tigers took several more shots on goal. They dominated played throughout much of the half, although the Panthers stayed right with them. Yarbrough was moved back into the field and Bill Andrea took over at that spot. Yarbrough made the best of things as he promptly made a nice shot, but it went high of the mark at the 60-minute mark in the game. Then MCHS scored when Yarbrough booted the ball just past the GJHS goalie at the 66-minute mark. The Panthers played angles and, in turn, came back with some good crossing passes. Omar Pena, at a center half-back spot, has improved.

The Tigers made a couple more attempts and barely missed when Jamie Utt’s ball was blocked.

Against Montrose on Friday night, Ian Cain of Cortez scored two goals. He scored in the first half and added another in the second half. Brian Cone scored the other goal for MCHS. The Panthers had several other chances to score but could not convert.

Montrose scored first but Cain by putting a head ball in following a corner kick. The Indians came back and scored. Then Cone scored following a nice pass from Pena which tied the score at 2-2. Montrose went ahead 3-2 and then Cain scored again to tie the game at the end of regulation. Both teams had opportunities to score in the first overtime and in the second but no one put the ball into the net.

At Fruita-Monument on Oct. 5, Starr reported his team had probably played one of their best games to date despite losing 3-0.

The Panthers outshot Fruita 10-1 in the first half.

"We communicated and we made nice short passes and played soccer the way it is supposed to be played," Starr said.

Early in the second half, Fruita’s Matt Atkins scored with a deep shot into the back of the net which, "took the wind out of our sails." And then it was boom and boom with a couple more scores.

The Warriors scored five first-half goals to defeat Montezuma-Cortez 9-0 en route to Southwestern League boys soccer win on Saturday, Oct. 6.

"We stepped off the bus okay but that was about the only thing we did right," Starr said. "They creamed us. We played well at times physically, but certainly not mentally."

Brian McDonald scored a hat trick while Mark McDonald and Robert Saunders each added two goals for Central of Grand Junction. First-half goalkeeper Matt Merriman came out of the box to score on a rebound off a second-half penalty kick.

Durango, with no league losses and one tie, is in the driver's seat for the league's top designation in the playoffs for Class 5A. Grand Junction High is going on to the playoffs.

Chris Sargent scored a goal with less than one minute remaining in the second overtime at Rifle, lifting the Palisade High School boys soccer team to a 2-1 win over the Bears Tuesday, Oct. 9. With the win, the Bulldogs (9-4 overall, 5-3 in Western Slope League play) clinched a berth in the Class 4A state playoffs with two regular-season matches remaining.