ENGLEWOOD — All it took was 30 seconds to undermine a season’s worth of work.
Trailing by one goal with less than 15 minutes to play against Durango, Smoky Hill rallied with two goals in half a minute to sink the Demons and return to the Class 5A state title game with a 4-2 victory Saturday morning at Pirate Stadium.
“We’ve been training since June 12, and these guys have literally been fighting an uphill battle since then,” said Buffaloes coach Danny Winsor, who has guided Smoky Hill to its fourth straight title game.
Durango (14-4-1), seeded No. 14, equalized in the 56th minute on a 45-yard laser of the foot of Cody Wolff that Buffs keeper Ben Santos had go right through his hands.
Two minutes later, Brennan Buiso gave the Demons their first lead when he was left alone on the far post to handle a Dustin Geist cross.
As quickly as the Demons thought they had their ticket punched, the defending champions from Smoky Hill had one last push.
A corner kick from Tommy Hrachovina found the foot of Tony Rosales to make it 2-2.
Before the dust could settle, Stephen Solano Cargill caught Demons keeper Marc Morris off his line and roofed a shot from 30 yards that gave the Buffs the lead.
“We’ve got to be able to come back,” Rosales said. “It’s just a matter of staying composed and at least forging a tie and then working on the win.”
Said Durango coach Scott Emrich, who guided Durango to its first semifinal appearance in school history: “We’ve never done that all season, and those things happen in soccer. (After the second one), we just weren’t playing nearly as well as we were earlier.”
Smoky Hill will play Centennial League rival Grandview in Wednesday’s championship, a rematch of the 2004 final won by the Buffs 2-0.
Durango 0 2 – 2
Smoky Hill 1 3 – 4
Goals – SH: Brannick (unassisted), 12th minute; D: Wolff (unassisted), 56th; Buiso (Geist), 58th; SH: Rosales (Hrachovina), 65th; SH: Cargill (unassisted), 65th; Hammett (Cargill), 80th.
Shots on goal – Durango 1-3 – 4; Smoky Hill 6-7 – 13. Saves – Durango (Morris) 5-4 – 9; Smoky Hill (Santos, 62 mins.) 1-1 – 2, (Howshar, 18 mins.) 0-0 – 0. Corner kicks – Durango 1-0 – 1; Smoky Hill 2-3 – 5. Offsides – Durango 0-0 – 0; Smoky Hill 2-2 – 4. Fouls – Durango 3-8 – 11; Smoky Hill 3-6 – 9. Yellow card – Wolff, D, 57th.
Jon E. Yunt: 303-954-1354 or jyunt@denverpost.com
