(Lydia Stern/Crested Butte News)
It feels like a long time ago that Crested Butte last won a boys soccer playoff game. The reality is it happened just four ago.
The Titans advanced to the second round of the Class 3A playoffs with a 3-1 win over Manitou Springs, but were eliminated the next round by Salida.
It’s the story of their postseason experience. Getting there has never been a traditional problem, it’s making a run that has proven to be difficult.
“We’ve always had a rough time in the 3A playoffs,” coach Than Acuff said. “We’d make it to the tournament more often than not, but we’d end up playing some front range powerhouses and just get throttled. We had a really hard time getting past that first round.”
Fast-forward to today.
Crested Butte is primed for a playoff run in the new 2A class and is played with poise and experience that is needed when it comes to playing great soccer.
“We have a couple of things in our favor,” Acuff said. “We have a senior in net, Slater Weil, and he’s been in a starting varsity keeper since his sophomore year. That’s always a huge help for a program who wants to have success. And every now and then, especially with these small schools, you just have an alignment of stars and this group of kids really gets along. There’s a huge team cohesion going on this season. We usually have that, but this year just seems a little more special.”
(Lydia Stern/Crested Butte News)
That win over Telluride on Sept. 14 was good enough for the Titans (7-1-2 overall) to take over the top spot in this week’s 2A soccer rankings. The lone loss this season was to 3A’s Salida, a team that should battle with the likes of Atlas Prep and Colorado Springs Christian for a league championship.
They played 3A No. 9 Delta and 2A No. 3 Ridgway to ties, but it was the win against Telluride that really gave the Titans a physical and emotional boost.
“That was a big game for us,” senior captain Tommy Lineman said. “That was our homecoming game. I think that was definitely the game where we knew we can compete with these good teams out there in 2A. We also know these new few games with Alamosa, Ridgway and Telluride in Telluride are going to be the deciding games to see who’s the best.”
Linehan is another reason the Titans are playing at a high level. He is currently tied for second in 2A with 10 goals scored. He’s flanked by Dagan Schwartz and Carlos Franco who have each scored five.
And although the stars have aligned for the Titans, it’s something that has been in the making with this group of kids for some time.
“As a team, we have some great chemistry,” Linehan said. “We’ve played with each other for a very long time now and that’s starting to show. The past couple of years we’ve increased our games as we’ve worked together, and everyone has put in the effort to get better.”
Better to the point that they’re talking about going further in the state playoffs than any Crested Butte team before them.
The 2A season will end where the other classes do, at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. The Titans would love to get to that point, but they don’t want to get too far ahead of themselves.
“We just try to go game by game,” Linehan said. “The captains and I have been telling the team that we just have to take it one game at a time and if we do what we need to do in that game and focus on our job for that game, we’ll win and make it to that overall goal that we have.”
(Lydia Stern/Crested Butte News)