Even with a tie against league rival Grand Junction, the Indians, who are now 10-4-1 overall and 8-1-1 in the SWL, walked away with the 2009 Southwestern League Championship honors, for the second year in a row.
Despite being down at half time 1-0, head coach Jim Lewis thought his team controlled the ball well and made better decisions with their time of possession through the first 40 minutes of the game than their counterparts.
 Montrose High School's Luis Cervantes, far left, makes a break for the ball during the first half of action against Grand Junction Tuesday evening. (Joel Blocker / Daily Press) Advertisement |
Lewis was referring to comments that Tiger head coach Steve Latta said about Montrose’s style of play.
"We owned the ball tonight and played with lots of control," he said. "I thought we had plenty of opportunities to score in the first half, but we just weren't calm enough around the net."
It didn't take long for the Indians to lose their jitters around the net. In the 44th-minute of the second half, it was junior Alex Barrientos' lob kick to Eliseo Gomez, who in turn fired a shot into the back of the net, that evened the game at 1-1.
"I just told them at half time to relax and just play their game. The goals will eventually come," Lewis said.
From that point on, the Indians looked like they were locked in and dominated ball possession the rest of the way, but unfortunately for them, all four of their shots on goal were denied by Junction's goalkeeper.
"I just think our guys were a little excited to score," Lewis said. "It was our last home game and our seniors really wanted this win."
Now that the Indians are SWL champs, they will be guaranteed a home game next Tuesday in the state playoffs, with their opponent yet to be determined.
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