After failing to make the finals of last week's King Tournament, the Cougars had to watch the final between their district foes Gaither and Bloomingdale.

But then, Durant battled to a 1-1 tie with King tourney champ Bloomingdale on Tuesday. And then Friday, it beat Gaither 4-0 in what Coach Dick Sheffield called "the most dominant game of the year.''

"Maybe we won't hear so much of that Gaither and Bloomingdale talk now,'' Sheffield said. "This is the first time we've put it all together and really dominated a team that should have been able to hang with us.''

Jen Kelly broke open the game in the 15th minute, when she took a ball from Kellie Evans in the middle, carried it unmolested for 20 yards, and knocked it in past Gaither goalie Michelle Kmiotek.

The Cowboys (6-2) countered with some nice one-touch passing through the midfield but were unable to finish. Midfielder Jessica Kmiotek left the game with leg pain in the 20th minute and did not return.

With 18 minutes to play in the half, Durant's Nicole Elswick was able to keep a ball in along the touchline and cross to a wide open Sara Green for the finish.

"(Elswick) seems to have a knack for doing that. That's how we scored against Bloomingdale too. She just sticks with the ball and makes a play,'' Sheffield said.

Two other Durant goals were called back for offsides in the first half, but with 4:20 to play, Molly Bower sent in a hard shot that deflected off a Gaither defender and went in.

After being outshot 13-2 in the first half, the Cowboys made some defensive adjustments to neutralize Durant in the second half. But some aggressive plays also earned Gaither four yellow cards.

Jen Sofran capped the scoring for Durant as she nailed a penalty kick after Craig Ferguson was taken down in the Gaither box.

Michael Harris took the ball on the left wing and crossed to Norris Hartzog, who flicked it on to Brendan Crampton.

Crampton's shot was partially deflected by a Durant defender but trickled in past goalie Blake Dickinson, who had been superb in the game with nine saves.

Crampton had been benched earlier in the week after coach Adrian Bush said he was not working hard enough.

"(Crampton) struggled all week in practice, and this was the first time he hasn't started for us,'' Bush said. ""I needed to send a message to these guys that they have to improve their work rate, and he responded to that.''

For Durant, it was a big letdown after Tuesday's stunning 2-0 win over Bloomingdale. On Friday, the Cougar offense was uneffective and appeared unorganized at times.

"Our game plan coming in was to eliminate their strength, which is balls played over the top,'' Bush said.

With strong marking from Jeff Bourguignon and Chris Omsted, the Cowboys took away the long ball and forced Durant to play a ball control game in the midfield. That style did not suit the Cougars, who struggled to find a rhythm all night, and rarely got past midfield.

Gaither outshot Durant 8-1 in the first half and 14-3 overall.

"Our defense just played phenomenal,'' Bush said. "I told the guys at halftime it's like fighting a gorilla. You can't stop fighting when you're tired. You have to keep fighting until he's tired.''

Although fatigued, Durant almost got a goal with four minutes remaining, when Pat Wehrle got free on the left wing and launched a high shot toward the far post.

Gaither goalie Jared Swindle barely got a hand on it, and it caromed off the crossbar. A follow-up attempt by Jamin Hollingsworth was cleared off the line by a Gaither defender.