Chelsea Self / Post Independent
Coming within a whisker of last year’s state championship game, the Roaring Fork High School boys soccer team will be hard pressed to duplicate the success of the 2018 squad that lost to Liberty Common 2-1 on penalty kicks in a double overtime heartbreaker.
That semifinal loss is still fresh in the memory of sixth-year Rams coach Nick Forbes, and it serves as daily motivation to keep his Roaring Fork group working hard and looking ahead to big things this season.
“This year’s team is going to have to work hard,” Forbes said. “This is a new team with only four players coming back that have much varsity experience. The talent is there to win the league, but we will just have to see how they apply themselves in practice. The open spots on the team will most likely be filled by the hardest workers.”
Forbes also points to the fact that with last year’s success, his team will have a proverbial target on its back with each and every team they face on the upcoming schedule.
“The hardest part of repeating as champs is to keep that desire to go out and win it again,” Forbes said. “There are some big shoes to fill on this team, but the ability is there to be as good as last season.”
Forbes sees the 3A Western Slope League as being, “Up in the air and wide open to many teams.” Forbes cited stiff competition from rival Basalt as being a key game on the 2019 slate.
“Basalt has a good program,” Forbes said. “The players on each team know each other and it will just be a great game.”
Aspen and Delta also look to be strong contenders in a league that doesn’t provide for many nights off.
If Forbes can get his young and talented team to gel to his liking, look for the Rams to be right in the thick of things in the tough Western Slope League once again this season.