The 2024 boys soccer 3A Western Slope League champion and No. 5 Roaring Fork Rams fought hard in the semi-finals of the state tournament, but the No. 1 Holy Family Tigers didn’t let their prey linger too long. 

The Rams fell 3-0 to Holy Family on a brisk and foggy Wednesday evening in Arvada. The familiarity of a wet, natural grass field didn’t help the Western Slope representative who will trek home as a top-four team in the state. 

The Rams and their boisterously supportive fans made the three-hour journey to Arvada but weren’t rewarded with equal satisfaction as they were in 2021 when they took home the state title.

“The fans really stepped up for us,” Rams head coach Nick Forbes said after the loss. “There is always excellent parent support with things like team dinners. It’s a great community to be a part of, and it feels like a team effort from everyone.”

The Tigers jumped at the Rams from the get-go. However strong the Rams were against 3A teams from the Western Slope, it was no matter against the top-ranked team in the state tournament. From the opening kick, it seemed Holy Family had the final say over the game’s outcome. 

The Tigers worked the ball deep in the seventh minute with impressive footwork and lovely long passes. The ball trickled out of bounds for the game’s first corner kick, which Holy Family cashed in on by finding the back of the net off a rebound. 

The first goal came seven minutes into the game, doing more negative harm to the Rams than positively impacting the Tigers. The Rams seemed shocked after falling into a hole so early in the game and just couldn’t figure out the correct way to dig upwards. Whenever it seemed as if Roaring Fork was grasping ahold of the ledge, a finger would slip, and another goal would be scored. 

“They are a really strong and organized team,” Forbes said. “Going down early always makes it a really tough hill to climb to get back in the game. We started to get a foothold, but their second goal reversed the momentum we were trying to build to get back into it.”

Holy Family took a 2-0 lead into the half, and the final nail in the coffin came early in the second half. As a Holy Family attacker raced towards the net, the Rams’ last defender had no choice but to practice his three-point takedown. The whistle promptly blew, and the scoreboard transitioned from 2-0 to 3-0.

Although the Rams ultimately fell short, there is no reason not to look forward to what they can accomplish in 2025. In a year when Forbes entered with the mentality of a ‘building year,’ Roaring Fork won the 3A Western Slope League, defeated the 14-3-1 Rifle Bears in the playoffs, and cracked the final four for the first time in three years.

During Forbes’ 11-year tenure, he has guided the Rams to four Final Four appearances, reaching the state championship twice and securing the title in 2021.

“It’s a testament to the senior leaders on this team,” Forbes said about the young players. “They flipped the ‘building year’ paradigm on its head. The seniors on this team led by example and were some of the most coachable and positive seniors I’ve had in my career. It didn’t take much time to realize the team was already built. I’m just bummed for them because I think we had it in us to win that game and take it one step farther, as well as gutted they don’t get what their attitude and application all season deserved.”