A roller coaster ride for the Roaring Fork High School girls lacrosse team over the past week included a last-minute win over rival Aspen at home, followed by a pair of tough losses.
Senior Grace Garcia found the net with just 54 seconds left to play to score a thrilling 13-12 win over Aspen on April 11 — a hard-fought game that saw several lead changes early and a fourth-quarter comeback for the Rams after falling behind 11-8.
The Rams goaltender, junior Ella Gunning, recorded 16 saves.
Garcia had three goals on the night, and also scoring for the Rams were sophomore Jordyn Miller (four), junior Hailey Wolfe (three), senior Lucianna Phillips (two) and one from junior Josie McKinley-Kitchell.
The win was redemption for the Rams, who had lost 8-7 at Aspen earlier in the season.
But the high was short-lived, as Roaring Fork went on to lose a pair of contests on the road, 20-8 Saturday, April 13, to one of the Class 4A powerhouses, Castle View, and Monday to the 4A Mountain East League leader, Battle Mountain, 15-10.
The Rams now sit at 4-2 and second place in the league standings, and 4-4 overall.
“We recently had two key injuries but we hope to overcome them before we play [Battle Mountain] again at home on April 30,” head coach Drew Kitchell said. “We have a slightly less busy schedule now, which gives us time to heal up and head into the playoffs at full strength.”
Despite the losses, Kitchell noted that his team kept the offensive pressure up, crediting offensive coordinator/assistant coach Dahl Miller.
“As he says, our kids are ‘all grit and no quit!,’” Kitchell said. “In both recent losses, our players never bowed their heads and were able to score 10 against a very highly-ranked Battle Mountain team.”
On a separate note, three of Roaring Fork’s top players, Wolfe, Miller and McKinley-Kitchell, were recently selected to join Team Colorado for the high school girls national lacrosse tournament this summer.
“This is a huge accomplishment, as there are only 20 spots available for field players,” coach Kitchell said. “These players have worked very hard for years to get to this level and it’s a well-deserved achievement.
Look for Roaring Fork in action at Rams Field for four straight home games, starting this Thursday, April 18, against Fruita Monument (5:30pm), Eagle Valley on Friday (4pm), April 26 versus Summit (5:30pm) and then the Battle Mountain rematch on the 30th (5:30pm).
Girls soccer
After beating Moffat County on the road April 11, 10-0 — a game that saw junior Carley Crownhart knock in four goals — the Rams booters lost two in a row, 2-1 Monday at Grand Junction, and 3-0 Saturday at home against Mullen.
Roaring Fork sits at 2-0-1 in the 3A Western Slope League and 5-3-1 overall, headed into Friday’s road trip to play Manitou Springs and a home contest April 23 against Basalt (6pm) at Rams Field.
Baseball
The Roaring Fork boys are riding a four-game win streak following an 8-2 win over Aspen at home on Tuesday, April 16, to improve to 2-0 in the 3A Western Slope League and 6-8 overall.
The Rams opened the league season on April 10 with a 10-0 win at home over Olathe. Junior Cole Fenton got the complete game shutout pitching win.
Playing on the road on Saturday, April 13, Roaring Fork won 12-1 over Strasburg, taking a 2-0 lead into the sixth before exploding for four runs in the sixth and six in the seventh to secure the win. Fenton again got the win from the mound, with sophomore Kenny Riley coming on in relief.
Next up for the Rams is a trip to Delta for a key league matchup this Saturday, April 20. Then it’s back home at Ron Patch Memorial Field versus Battle Mountain on Monday (3pm).
Track and Field
Competing at last Saturday’s (April 13) Glenwood Springs Demon Invitational, the Roaring Fork girls had several athletes finish in the top seven of their events, contributing to 34 team points scored on the day:
Senior Kyra Reeds, third 100-meter hurdles (17.95 second), and third 300-meter hurdles (51.2 seconds); sophomore Nikki Tardif, third 400-meter dash (1:04.68), and sixth 200-meter dash (28.97); junior Isabella Moon, fourth 3200-meter run (13:10.13); sophomore Caroline Cole, fifth 3200 meters (13:45.67); 4×200 relay team of Tardif, Reeds, Evi Keating and Elizabeth Fullerton, fourth (1:56.34); and 4×800 relay team of Moon, Cole, Margaux Zeijlstra and Sadie Silcox, fifth (12:00.21).
The Roaring Fork boys 4×100 relay team of David Finley, Mateo Ledezma, Gianluca Liuzzi and Kurai Chadwick finished eighth (49.41).
The track team is at the Coal Ridge Invitational on Friday, April 19.