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Roaring Fork Rams Ross Barlow and Lucas Schramer celebrate after Barlow’s goal early in the second half of Friday night’s 3A playoff game against Peak to Peak High School.
Chelsea Self / Post Independent
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The Roaring Fork Rams celebrate after Ross Barlow’s goal early in the second half of Friday night’s game against Peak to Peak High School in Carbondale.
Chelsea Self / Post Independent
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Roaring Fork Ram Ross Barlow fights to keep possession of the ball just before scoring early in the second half of Friday night’s game against Peak to Peak High School in Carbondale.
Chelsea Self / Post Independent
A Carbondale community effort helped ensure the Roaring Fork High School Rams had a field to play — and win — on Friday evening in their opening round game of the 3A state playoffs against Peak to Peak.
After a scoreless first 55 minutes of play, the fifth-seeded Rams found their stride, scoring three goals during a 10-minute stretch midway through the second half to claim the 3-0 win over No. 28 Peak to Peak.
After this week’s snowstorm and cold weather, it was all Roaring Fork could do to get the field at Carbondale Middle School ready for play.
“I just want to give a shout-out to a community that came out and helped make this happen,” Roaring Fork head coach Nick Forbes said. “We had some people in the district office who were out here shoveling for us, parents who were here shoveling, grandparents … it was a collective effort to make sure this game happened.
“It was moving to me as a coach, and it was nice to see that support,” Forbes said.
The Rams returned the favor, giving their loyal fan base an entertaining game that saw Roaring Fork control the early pace with a solid defensive effort from a young cast of starters.
“We had some practice attendance issues at the beginning of the week, so I dealt with that by giving some of our seniors a sit for the first 10 to 15,” Forbes explained.
“They paid their dues, and then came out with some more intensity. They’ve been proving themselves all year, so it was nice to see them come out and do it again.”
Sophomore Ross Barlow got the Rams on the scoreboard as the clock ticked inside 25 minutes to play in the game.
After several near misses for the pressing Roaring Fork team, Barlow finally found a loose ball in front of the net and knocked it into the back of the net past Peak to Peak keeper Michael Crotty.
A few minutes later, Rams senior Dylan Webster scored two goals within 40 seconds of each other to seal the deal for the host team and move the Rams on to Tuesday’s second round.
Webster said his first goal was a simple matter of teamwork.
“When you’re making runs like that it creates gaps, and that run left me alone in front,” Webster said. “The ball took a weird bounce off the D, and all I had to do was finish the volley.
“Playoffs is a whole new game,” he said. “Potentially, every game could be your last, so I think everyone brings it a little more. When we play with each other, that’s when we play our best.”
Roaring Fork will host No. 12 Fort Lupton — 3-0 winners over Manitou Springs — at 4 p.m. Tuesday at the Carbondale field.
In other 3A playoff action Friday, Coal Ridge High, coming in as the No. 30 seed, lost on the road in Colorado Springs to No. 3 Atlas Prep Academy 9-0, and No. 29 Basalt dropped a 4-1 decision to Aurora West College Prep Academy.
And, in the class 4A playoffs, No. 23 Rifle — in its first post-season appearance since 2011 — fell 2-0 to No. 10 Discovery Canyon, also in Colorado Springs.
