{"id":2451186,"date":"2019-11-15T22:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-11-16T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/a-game-years-in-the-making\/"},"modified":"2019-11-15T22:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-11-16T05:00:00","slug":"a-game-years-in-the-making","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/a-game-years-in-the-making\/","title":{"rendered":"A game years in the making"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Aspen High School boys soccer hosts No. 4 Roaring Fork on Friday, Oct. 11, 2019, under the lights on the AHS turf. The Rams won 3-2 in overtime. (Photo by Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times)<\/strong>
Austin Colbert<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

The state championship-bound Roaring Fork High School boys soccer team has something to prove this season.<\/p>\n

After graduating most of a senior-heavy team last year \u2014 and after bowing out of the state playoffs in the semifinals that year and the quarterfinals the year before that \u2014 the 2019 contingent of Rams are out to make a name for themselves.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like a lot of the guys this year kind of came out of their shell,\u201d senior Connor Brennan said Thursday as the team went through final drills in preparation for a 3A title game matchup with defending state champion Kent Denver on Saturday morning.<\/p>\n

Game time is 11 a.m. for the No. 5 Rams versus the No. 2 Sun Devils at Dick\u2019s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City.<\/p>\n

INTO THEIR OWN<\/p>\n

\u201cWe only had three non-senior starters last year, and so we really had to step it up this year and show that we were just as good as the seniors who left,\u201d Brennan said. \u201cIt feels really good to finally get there; like all the effort and work we put in over the past few years is finally coming together.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also been a building process for seventh-year coach Nick Forbes who, after four straight years sending a Roaring Fork team into the playoffs, has the Rams playing for a state title.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis team has showed some pretty incredible perseverance,\u201d Forbes said of a varsity squad that has almost as many underclassmen starting as juniors and seniors.<\/p>\n

The Rams\u2019 2-1 win over No. 1 Salida in the semifinals on Wednesday was a great example.<\/p>\n

Scoreless through more than 75 minutes of play, Roaring Fork suddenly found itself down 1-0 with time ticking away.<\/p>\n

But the Rams, thanks to the foot of sophomore Ross Barlow, tied it with just over a minute in regulation.<\/p>\n

Then, Barlow\u2019s penalty kick in overtime was golden, giving the win to Roaring Fork and a shot at the state title.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo carry through that way shows the perseverance,\u201d Forbes said.<\/p>\n

YOUNG TALENT<\/p>\n

Barlow and senior Dylan Webster have been the team leaders all season on the scoring front, with 18 and 14 goals, respectively.<\/p>\n

But a good bit of the Rams\u2019 scoring also came from freshman Emiliano Magana, who netted eight goals.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s great to play with this group, and it makes me a better player and helps me improve my skills,\u201d Magana said. \u201cThe coaches here are really good, and my teammates keep me motivated to get better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Forbes hands it to the All-Valley Select Soccer Club for developing young players and helping to feed the area high school teams.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey keep pumping out talent, and we keep profiting from that,\u201d Forbes said. \u201cIt\u2019s pretty awesome as a coach when you have well-developed players, because the coaching becomes less instructional and more about how to use these players to best get results.\u201d<\/p>\n

Solidifying the Roaring Fork team effort has been a staunch backline and middle field that controls the tempo and limits its opponents\u2019 scoring chances. The Rams have an impressive goals-against average this season of just 1.1, and junior goalkeeper Noah Wheeless has recorded 65 saves on the season.<\/p>\n

Senior Johnny Delgado transferred to Roaring Fork last year, but had to wait it out on the junior varsity squad during the Rams\u2019 2018 semifinal run due to the Colorado High School Activities Association transfer eligibility rules.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis has been my dream, and it\u2019s been everyone\u2019s dream since eighth grade that when you get to high school you can play for a state championship,\u201d Delgado said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a huge team effort \u2026 and I\u2019m proud of all the effort.\u201d<\/p>\n

TALL ORDER<\/p>\n

The Rams know they\u2019ll have to be on top of their game to dethrone perennial soccer powerhouse Kent Denver.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo doubt, they\u2019re one of the best in the state, and we need to be really focused,\u201d Brennan said.<\/p>\n

Forbes remembers that two of the Sun Devils\u2019 top players were sophomore sensations two years ago when Roaring Fork lost 3-1 to Kent Denver in the 3A quarterfinals.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re good players, and they have the resources behind them,\u201d Forbes said. \u201cSo, that perseverance is going to be huge. If we can hang in there and show them what we can do, that\u2019s going to be key.\u201d<\/p>\n

A strong contingent of Carbondale fans also plans to make the trip over to Denver for the big game. That support has also been part of the team\u2019s success, Forbes said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a real testament to our community,\u201d he said. \u201cThere are a lot of bonds that connect us demographically, with our Latino and Anglo cultures. This town does a really nice job of bringing those cultures together and bridging those gaps. And that shows in our team.\u201d<\/p>\n

jstroud@postindependent.com<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Aspen High School boys soccer hosts No. 4 Roaring Fork on Friday, Oct. 11, 2019, under the lights on the AHS turf. The Rams won 3-2 in overtime. (Photo by Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times)Austin Colbert The state championship-bound Roaring Fork High School boys soccer team has something to prove this season. After graduating most of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2451186","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-19 06:08:08","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley's Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2451186","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2451186"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2451186\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2451186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2451186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2451186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}