It was a tough opening week with weather as well as on the soccer pitch as Durant High teams struggled for wins in non-district contests with Madill and Duncan.
The Lady Lions battled to a 0-0 tie with Madill on the road in a wind-swept season opener and then dropped a 2-1 verdict to Duncan in penalty kicks.
Coach John Wilmoth’s Lions were on the short end of a 6-2 decision to Madill and then came up just shy in a 5-4 loss to Duncan as it was also decided on penalty kicks.
Durant closes out the pre-Spring Break portion of the schedule this weekend in the Collinsville Tournament.
Girls
The Lady Lions ended the Madill outing with a 20-3 advantage in shots on goal but could never find the back of the net on any with the refs waving off the penalty kick session.
Facing a strong Duncan club, the Lady Lions picked up an early goal on one of four shot attempts from J.J. Patten, which proved to be Durant’s only score of the night.
Head coach Katie Williams pointed to strong defensive play from Luis Ruiz, who spurred the defensive wall and also generated three shots on goal.
Alex Martinez had a stellar effort in goal with four saves, only giving up one goal in regulation.
“We just missed too many penalty kicks after the overtime. Ruiz and Aubree Wise punched through penalty kicks for Durant in that extra session but it wasn’t enough.
“We had growth in the game and hopefully will continue to improve as we go along.”
Boys
With winds gusting from 35 to 45 miles per hour, conditions were definitely not ideal as Durant struggled with inexperience and consistency.
Madill raced to a 3-0 advantage before Durant got on the board with goals from Mitchell Palmer on a free kick and Joseph Flores on a breakaway but that proved to be all the Lion scoring on the night.
“We are a young team and it is going to take overcoming some growing pains before we can reach our potential,” Wilmoth said.
In the home opener against Duncan, Durant got off to a quick start with goals from Aiden Polk and Otto Baskin on the way to a 3-0 edge. The Demons, however, answered with three goals of their own while tying the score at halftime.
Joseph Flores found the back of the net midway through the second half to regain the lead, but Duncan was able to sneak a shot past goalkeeper Leland Hardwick in the closing minutes to force the extra frame.
Following a scoreless overtime, the contest went to penalty kicks where Duncan connected four times and the Lions only three.