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Aspen High School’s Cooper Johnson tries to control the ball in the boys lacrosse game against Montrose on Saturday, April 6, 2019, on the AHS turf. (Photo by Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times).
Austin Colbert/Aspen Times -
Aspen High School’s Cooper Johnson, right, looks around for an airborne ball in the boys lacrosse game against Montrose on Saturday, April 6, 2019, on the AHS turf. (Photo by Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times).
Austin Colbert/Aspen Times -
Aspen High School freshman Bronwyn Chesner controls the ball against Golden on Saturday, April 6, 2019, at Iselin Field. (Photo by Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times).
Austin Colbert/Aspen Times
Matching up against a bigger Front Range team in Golden, there was plenty of justification for Amanda Trendell’s worries prior to Saturday’s game at Iselin Field.
While they didn’t prove to be overly valid by the end of the Aspen High School girls lacrosse team’s 14-4 rout, the AHS coach would still prefer her team show up with a bit of anxiety each time out.
“It comes down to confidence and not cockiness and making sure that again we are a great team but that we always have something to work on,” Trendell said. “It’s OK to have that worry, because you strive to be that much better than the other team and giving them the benefit that they are good, too, which is really important.”
The win continues the Skiers’ torrid start to the season in which they have hardly been tested. In fact, the 10-point margin of victory was the lowest by Aspen through its 5-0 start. The 14 points was a season low offensively, which says a lot about how good Aspen has been early on.
“Front Range teams have a different style of play — more aggressive than mountain teams. So I think she was nervous for this game, but we really pulled through, especially on defense,” AHS senior goalie Livi Carr said, referring to Trendell. “All the girls, we kind of treat each other as a family and that really helps, especially with communication on the sides and picking each other up after mistakes.”
Junior Charlotte Howie and freshman Bronwyn Chesner each had a team-high four goals for the Skiers against Golden, which dropped to 2-4 overall. Sophomore Kylie Kenny had three goals, senior Sabrina Turbidy two and senior Kate Citron one.
The balanced scoring has been a theme for the Skiers this season, part of the reason their offense has remained so potent.
“Our main goal as a team right now is to get every goal to be assisted,” Kenny said. “Since everyone on our team is so willing to rise to the occasion because we put in so much work in practice and before the season, that means every person on offense is a threat.”
Now 5-0 and ranked No. 10 in the state, Aspen will head to Colorado Springs on Wednesday where it will play Air Academy. The Kadets (4-3) played the Skiers last year in the first round of the state playoffs, Aspen escaping with an 11-10 victory on the AHS turf.
“That’s going to be a tough game,” Trendell said. “They are athletic; they are fast. That’s where when we play our lacrosse, which is systematic and smart and creative, that’s where we can pull out a win.”
ASPEN BOYS lacrosse GAINING MOMENTUM
On Tuesday, the Aspen High School boys lacrosse team had a relatively disappointing showing in a 14-9 loss to visiting Fruita Monument, the Skiers’ first game back from spring break.
Two wins later, and that loss is starting to feel like it was ages ago.
The unranked Skiers, who knocked off No. 9 Ponderosa on Friday night, took care of business again Saturday with an 11-3 win over Montrose (1-5) on the AHS turf.
“It’s good to get the ball rolling and feel like we are kind of having success,” AHS coach Tommy Cox said. “We played some more difficult teams in the beginning of the season, which prepared us for where we are now.”
Down 1-0, Aspen scored seven straight goals to lead 7-1 at halftime against Montrose. The Skiers were outscored 2-1 in the third quarter, but ran away in the fourth quarter with three more. Sophomore Tyler Ward had a team-high five goals.
Ranked No. 5 in the preseason, Aspen’s slow start has allowed them to take more of an underdog role into games, and Cox believes that might have helped the team begin to play like a team that could make a strong postseason run.
“It made us come out as hard as we could,” Cox said. “Ultimately, I think it changed the mindset of every single boy on the team. We now know what we are capable of and now realize the games we lost were just by beating ourselves. We are not losing to the opponents — we are losing to ourselves. (Friday) was a huge turning point for us.”
Aspen (3-2, 1-1) will next head to Grand Junction on Tuesday for another league game.