Coal Ridge takes down Rifle

By Joelle Milholm
Post Independent Staff
Glenwood Springs, CO Colorado
April 9, 2008

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RIFLE, Colorado — Two teams made up of players from towns that used to feed into one team at Rifle High School taking the field against each other equals one thing — the most intense nonleague rivalry showdown in the area.

On Tuesday, the new school showed the old one how it’s done as the Class 3A Titans bested the 4A Rifle Bears 3-1 on their own field.

“It is amazing,” said Coal Ridge sophomore Audrey Asplund, who scored two goals in the win. “We get bragging rights all year.”

To the Titans, the win almost means more than a league game.

“I always tell them nonconference games don’t matter. They are learning experiences, you could lose all of them and it doesn’t matter because they are not league games — they don’t believe me,” Coal Ridge head coach Brian Blair said. “This is probably the most important game of the year to them. If it is not Basalt, it’s this one.”

Coal Ridge wasted no time in scoring as Asplund capitalized on a Bear hand ball in the penalty box and scored on a rolling penalty kick 4:20 into the game. Asplund struck again a little more than five minutes later when a line drive bullet hit Mindy Gonzales’ back, changing direction and fooling Rifle goalie Abby Schmidt, and went into the Bears’ goal.

“That PK was pretty exciting. We have been practicing them,” Asplund said. “I knew I had to put in that PK to break the ice and then the second goal, I had to put it in.”

Rifle sliced the Titans’ lead in half with a Chelsea Webb penalty kick that hit off the cross bar and bounced down into the goal. Bears head coach Mark Knighton hoped his girls could have built off their first goal, but the Bears just couldn’t get any momentum against the hard-pressing Titans.

“They were the better team today,” Knighton said of Coal Ridge. “They played with passion, intensity, they went to the ball hard, they did everything we didn’t do. All you can do is tip your hat and say good game, blue.”

After Webb’s goal, the scoring halted for more than 30 minutes. Coal Ridge had many shots sail wide and over Rifle’s goal while Rifle’s scoring chances were foiled by goalkeeper Vanessa Hinojos and great defense.

“As long as we’ve got Sam Wilson in the middle, our defense will always be good,” Blair said. “She keeps everybody where they need to be.”

Then, with 11:45 to go, Asplund set the wheels in motion for another Titan goal. The sophomore fired off a great pass from on a direct kick from the corner that bounced off the blue bandanna on Ashlie Bowles head and into the Bear goal for the final goal of the game.

“I owe that all to Audrey,” Bowles said. “That cross went right to me.”

Rifle fell to 2-4-1 overall and will now face undefeated Battle Mountain in a 4A Western Slope League match-up on the road Thursday. Coal Ridge moved to 5-2-1 overall on the year and will next host 3A WSL foe Vail Mountain on Thursday. Blair hopes the Titans can use the victory as fuel to win for the remainder of the year

“If we lose here it is demoralizing, so to win is the opposite,” he said. “It is a big boost for the rest of the season.”