A clash between Garfield County soccer rivals Roaring Fork and Coal Ridge Tuesday night in Carbondale had the added frenzy that naturally comes with the state playoffs.
In the end, it was the third-seeded Rams of Roaring Fork who claimed the 3-1 win over the No. 19 Titans, who’ve perennially been one of Roaring Fork’s strongest foes in the 3A Western Slope League.
League champions this year, though, Roaring Fork looked the part of a top-three contender for the 3A state title with a commanding second-round win.
“It was a tough battle against a league opponent we know well, and it’s always sad when two Western Slope teams have to play for elimination,” veteran Roaring Fork head coach Nick Forbes said. “We always want our league represented on the business end of the playoffs.”
Rams senior Cristian Turcios got things going 8 minutes into the game, scoring a goal on a breakaway run up the middle. Roaring Fork held the Titans to just one shot on goal late in the half, and maintained the 1-nil advantage going into the locker room.
Senior Ollie Shook scored his first of two second-half goals 10 minutes in, before Coal Ridge answered with a goal of its own with 17 minutes left to play. Shook found the back of the net again a short time later for the insurance goal.
Forbes credited Titans head coach David Romero for a well-coached season.
“He did a great job with them this year,” Forbes said.
“But all credit to our boys. They played our game and weathered some adversity to come away with a pretty convincing win.”
The Rams remain on their home turf in Carbondale this Saturday, against No. 6 Eagle Ridge Academy, 3-1 winners over No. 11 Stargate School on Tuesday. Game time was still to be determined as of press time.
In the opening round game on Oct. 28, the Rams defeated No. 30 Peak to Peak, 3-0. Goals were scored by seniors Kevin Morales, Oliver Shook and Michael Parada, with assists from juniors Freddy Marin and Felipe Oliva, and freshman Quentin Cohen.
X-country championships
Representing Carbondale and Basalt at the Colorado High School Cross Country Championships in Colorado Springs on Oct. 31 were the combined Basalt-Roaring Fork boys and girls teams in the 3A races, and the Colorado Rocky Mountain School (CRMS) girls team and one individual boy in the 2A races.
Top finish among the local runners came from CRMS junior Kayla Steele, who took second overall in the 2A girls race to earn a medal with a time of 19 minutes, 46.6 seconds over the 5-kilometer course at the Norris Penrose Events Center. She was 32 seconds off the winning pace set by Rangely senior Taya Wren.
Rounding it out for CRMS among 138 qualifying runners were junior Abigail O’Keefe (37th, 21:39.2), senior Tacie Simmons (84th, 23:57.3), freshman Liv Simmons (85th, 24:00.7), freshman Camille Moore (99th, 24:57.5) and freshman Sylvi Hanrahan (101st, 25:00.7).
In the 2A boys race, CRMS senior Max Peterson placed 78th out of 145 state qualifiers with a time of 19:08.75).
In the 3A boys race, Levi Friday, a junior from Roaring Fork, was the Longhorns’ top finisher in 23rd place overall in the field of 159 runners with a time of 17:03.2. He was followed in order by Longhorn runners sophomore Elliot Galbraith (70th, 17:55.7), sophomore Bode Shoenbrunn (113th, 18:42.6), senior Kian Sullivan (123rd, 18:55.8), junior Henry Ogburn (135th, 19:19.4), junior Maximus Rooding (145th, 19:47.8) and sophomore Hunter Raymond (151st, 20:21.9).
And, out of 155 runners in the 3A girls race, the top Longhorn was sophomore Scarlett Jones in 15th with a time of 19:50.5. In order behind her for the Longhorns were sophomore Jude Tiernan (60th, 21:17.9), sophomore Maggie Cole (96th, 22:41.1), senior Sadie Silcox (98th, 22:45.6), junior Eva Feinsinger (108th, 23:08.6), junior Isla Friel (125th, 24:02.1) and freshman Nevee Campbell (140th, 25:08.7).
Mountain bike championships
Roaring Fork High School and CRMS were also represented at the Colorado Cycling League’s State Mountain Biking Championships, held at the Colorado Mountain College Spring Valley Campus on Oct. 31.
Results for CRMS: senior Drew O’Keefe (third, Varsity Boys), senior Bram Marlow (17th, Varsity Boys), junior Finley Nolan (25th, Varsity Girls), junior Oliver Lowery (18th, JV Boys), senior Aurora Cherney (29th, Varsity Girls), junior Brody McDermott (22nd, JV Boys), senior Laia Ogilby (44th, Varsity Girls), senior Alonso Lopez De Hara (46th, Varsity Boys), senior Remi Brunson (38th, JV Boys) and sophomore Nils Aberger (28th, Sophomore Boys).
Results for Roaring Fork: junior Bryson Fink (42nd, JV Boys), junior Sophia Warner (56th, JV Girls) and sophomore Oliver Goddard (53rd, Sophomore Boys).
2A football playoffs
The No. 11 Basalt Longhorns got things rolling in the 2A state football playoffs with a 42-0 win at home over Florence on Oct. 31. Next up, they travel to play No. 6 La Junta at 1pm this Saturday, Nov. 7.