Coal Ridge wins big on windy day

Coal Ridge blasts 6 goals past CRMS

Click to Enlarge Browse and Buy Post Independent Photos Coal Ridge High School’s Emily Johnson, left, attempts to get a shot off while Colorado Rocky Mountain School’s Kelsey Lewis defends during the first half of the Titans’ 6-0 win at Coal Ridge High School Tuesday afternoon. Chad Spangler Post Independent

By Joelle Milholm
Post Independent Staff
Glenwood Springs, CO Colorado
April 16, 2008

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PEACH VALLEY, Colorado — On a windy Tuesday afternoon where one gust was even strong enough to knock one of the goal posts out of place, the Coal Ridge girls soccer team was also a mighty force and blew over Colorado Rocky Mountain School 6-0.

It was a confidence-boosting win for the Titans, who lost 5-0 to Basalt on Monday. Despite the fierce wind, Coal Ridge played a much-improved game in the eyes of their coach Brian Blair.

“The second half we really passed the ball well. Over the last few weeks we got in the habit of playing kick and chase, bad sloppy soccer and then Basalt exploited it,” he said. “They made us look bad doing it. So that was the emphasis today, passing the ball to people and moving the ball through the pass instead of dribbling the ball.”

The wind forced both teams to change their game plans and keep the ball low throughout the game.

“This is a chaotic situation and you have to do your best to organize and control it,” said CRMS head coach Amanda Leahy.

The game was scoreless in the first 25 minutes, but with CRMS being pinned in their own end, the Titans created lots of scoring chances.

Jill Refior kick started Coal Ridge’s scoring when she pounced on a rebound of a deflected shot and buried it in the back of the net with 15 minutes to go in the half.

Kourtney Mitchell charged down the field 10 minutes later and scored on an unassisted line drive to put the Titans up 2-0 at halftime.

The Titans didn’t waste any time scoring in the second half as Chelsie Ryan flashed some fancy footwork and fired a shot for a goal 1:03 into the second frame. Ryan then assisted the next goal at the 32-minute mark when she found Erica Ruiz for another Coal Ridge goal.

Ryan struck again 10 minutes later with her second goal of the game to put the Titans up 5-0 with 22 minutes left to play. Ryan admitted playing in the windy conditions wasn’t easy.

“It was hard, but I think we did pretty good,” she said. “We wanted to keep it on the ground and kick to people’s feet.”

Mikaela Guettler capped off Coal Ridge’s scoring with the final goal of the game with 7:21 to go.

In the closing minutes of the game, CRMS got a few shots on goal and gave goalkeeper Jade Bath, who had been pounded on all game, a break. All together, Bath, with some huge clears from her defenders, made over 25 saves.

Leahy was pleased with Bath’s performance.

“Especially a game like this when you get all those shots and some goals, Jade shows she’s an athlete because she keeps her head in it,” she said. “It doesn’t affect her because she is right back on the next play.”

With the win, Coal Ridge moved to 6-3-2 overall while CRMS dropped to 0-2. The game did not count as a Class 3A Western Slope League game because CRMS does not play enough league games to officially be in the WSL.

Coal Ridge will return to WSL play with a home game against Roaring Fork at 4 p.m. on Thursday while CRMS will host Rangely at 4 p.m. on Thursday.