The Roaring Fork High School boys soccer team continued its winning ways Tuesday night at Rams Field, earning a 4-1 victory over the reigning 2A state champions, Crested Butte, to improve to 8-2 overall on the season.
It was the first time in three years that the 3A Rams have managed to defeat Crested Butte. They did it behind a hat trick from senior Cal Stone, who dominated the match from the Rams’ offensive front.
Stone struck first in the match on a back-post finish assisted by senior Kevin Morales, and scored again on a 35-yard free kick to the upper corner that skipped off the Titans goalie’s hand.
The Titans managed to make it 2-1, before Rams senior Ollie Shook found the net on a scramble in front of the goal to give Roaring Fork the 3-1 halftime lead. Stone added his third goal in the second half, and the Rams defense kept the Titans at bay for the remainder of the match.
“They’re the 2A reigning state champs, so they come in with some clout and they’re really well coached,” veteran Roaring Fork coach Nick Forbes said of the Crested Butte squad after the game. “We love having them on the schedule, because they’re really classy and they play really hard and they’re just a good team.”
The win maintained the Rams’ undefeated home record as they move into the heart of the 3A Western Slope League schedule. Roaring Fork takes its 2-0 league mark to Middle Park on Thursday and is at Coal Ridge on Tuesday, Oct. 13 (4pm varsity start), before returning home to face Vail Mountain next Thursday, Oct. 15 (6pm).
“That’s our last home game before the playoffs followed by a couple of long road trips (Gunnison on Oct. 20 and Delta on Oct. 22),” Forbes noted.
Roaring Fork now holds the No. 3 ranking in Colorado among 3A teams, behind No. 1 Jefferson Academy and No. 2 Salida.
“Our goal right now is to try to win out in the league and get some home games for the playoffs, and then just win one game at a time,” Forbes said of the prospect of another deep playoff run for the Rams.
Softball
Another hot team heading toward the postseason is the combined Basalt-Roaring Fork-
Glenwood girls softball team, now 12-6 overall and 7-1 in the 3A/4A Western Slope North League.
The Longhorns moved into first place in the league with an 18-0 win at Aspen on Tuesday night. That came after an 9-8 extra inning thriller win over the previous league-leader, Eagle Valley, at home on Oct. 1.
Stats for the Aspen game were not yet posted as of deadline for this story. Versus Eagle Valley last week, the Devils were up 6-5 after five innings before Basalt tied it in the bottom of the seventh to send the game to an eighth inning.
Eagle scored two in the top half, but Basalt answered with three runs to earn the walk-off win.
Basalt had 13 hits to Eagle Valley’s eight, but the Longhorns had to overcome five errors in the contest.
Roaring Fork student-athlete junior Sydney Ostberg went three-for-four from the plate, with two RBIs, and Liliana Santini was two-for-four with three RBIs.
Junior Hadley Ivy was three for three with two RBIs. She also pitched a complete game to earn the win with 12 strikeouts and a 2.62 ERA.
The Longhorns close out the regular season with a doubleheader at home against Moffat County on Thursday (2pm and 4pm) at the BHS field, and will await postseason playoff pairings early next week.
State golf
The combined Basalt golf team finished as the team runner-up at the 3A State Golf Championship in Alamosa on Monday and Tuesday.
Senior Hudson Arnold, a Roaring Fork High student, rebounded from his 79 on Monday and shot 69 on Tuesday to finish tied with teammate Blair Didier for 11th place. Parker Strelecki was one shot back, tied for 14th.
Volleyball
The Roaring Fork varsity volleyball team fell 3-0 at Aspen Tuesday night, and lost 3-1 at Vail Mountain (13-25, 26-24, 23-25, 21-25) on Oct. 1. The Rams are now 3-13 overall, and 1-7 in the 3A WSL.
Next up, Roaring Fork hosts Moffat County at 6pm Thursday, and Grand Junction at 6pm on Tuesday, Oct. 13.
Cross country
Basalt-Carbondale and Colorado Rocky Mountain School cross country runners competed at the Chris Severy Invitational at Aspen High School on Oct. 3. Basalt sophomore Scarlett Jones took seventh with a 5-kilometer time of 22:56.6 on the rugged mountain course, behind CRMS runner, junior Kayla Steele in sixth (22:19.9). Sophomore Jude Tiernan was 14th (24:30.7).
For the boys, CRMS senior Max Peterson took sixth (20:44.9), and Basalt sophomore Bode Schoenbrun was ninth (21:06.9).