IHS drops two to Telluride in Cortez

Playing Saturday, April 29, at neutral Montezuma-Cortez High School, with the Lady Panthers playing a 3A Southwestern League match at Pagosa Springs, Ignacio faced Telluride not once, but twice. Coming off an 8-2 loss to PSHS the previous afternoon – thanks to the Lady Pirates scoring five unanswered goals after halftime – the Lady Bobcats unfortunately fell well short in each 2A Intermountain-South contest.

Getting four goals from senior Summer Johnson, three from junior Brooke Duncan and two from sophomore Lexton Gregory, the Lady Miners – still energized by their crucial 2-0 win on the 26th at Crested Butte Community School, giving THS a 2-1 lead on their nemesis in head-to-head goal differential – grabbed the opening match by an 11-1 margin.

“They’re our rivals, and we really needed to beat them this time. Last time we played them, the whole team was sick, I was injured, and it was conditions … like a blizzard – it was really bad,” Gregory said, discussing the motivating impact of defeating CBCS, at the time ranked No. 8 in the CHSAANow.com Class 2A poll.

“Our team is really working hard to communicate more and work on our skills as a team. Before (Spring) Break we weren’t really connected, but we’ve been working on that in practice. I think our passes could get better, but they were looking pretty good today.”

Assisted by sophomore Ollyvia Howe, senior Harmony Reynolds denied Telluride a shutout with Ignacio’s lone goal.

Johnson then scored three times to lead THS (6-6 overall, 3-2 league) to a 10-0 win over IHS (0-13, 0-5) in the second match, with Gregory and fellow sophs Emma Reggiannini and Mae Scarborough each registering two goals and Duncan one.

Looking ahead at the schedule, Ignacio will end the 2023 season hosting Crested Butte at noon Saturday, May 6. Results from IHS’ evening battle on the 4th versus 3A SWLers Bayfield were unavailable at press time.