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‘Horns roll in 10-0 playoff rout

Post Independent Writer

BASALT – Senior Ukare Sano scored a hat trick and nine other Basalt players tallied goals or assists as the No. 3 seed Lady Longhorns crushed No. 14 Evangelical Christian Academy 10-0 in the first round of the Class 3A state tournament Thursday afternoon in Basalt.

By Tim Mutrie



Aspen Correspondent



BASALT – Senior Ukare Sano scored a hat trick and nine other Basalt players tallied goals or assists as the No. 3 seed Lady Longhorns crushed No. 14 Evangelical Christian Academy 10-0 in the first round of the Class 3A state tournament Thursday afternoon in Basalt.

The winner of 12 straight, Basalt, 13-1 overall, pushed its streak of shutout victories to nine consecutive games, now by a cumulative margin of 50 to nil. Colorado Springs’ Evangelical Christian saw its season end at 8-5 overall.

Making just two touches all game thanks to an ever-vigilant defensive backline, senior Autumn Caughern recorded the win in goal for Basalt.

Junior midfielder Kari Heuer opened the scoring flood in the 10th minute with a left-footed rocket one-timed off a perfect feeder pass from senior center midfielder Ashley Eaton.

Basalt added three more goals before halftime and Eaton touched off a six-goal outburst in the second half with a corner kick that hooked directly into the goal in the first minute after the break.

“We all want the state title so bad this year,” said Eaton, one of ten seniors on the team. “I expected us to do well, maybe not 10-zero, but once we got going there was no stopping us.”

“Now, we can’t be too full of ourselves because we’re only going to be facing better teams as we go on.”

Basalt, which drew its highest seed ever in the state tourney this year, will host a quarterfinal match on Tuesday at 4 p.m. at the BHS field against the No. 6 Bishop Machebeuf, which defeated No. 11 St. Mary’s 3-0 on Thursday.

“We’ll savor this win for five or 10 minutes and then get back to business,” said Basalt coach Chris Woods.

“Big props to our defense today,” continued Woods, referring to an all-senior unit that has allowed just seven goals all season, including Brittany Pollock, Meghan Stewart, Amanda Schmitt, Rochelle Moebius and Maria Jacobson.

‘Horns: see page A21

“That kind of defense gives our offense and midfield that much more confidence to take chances and drive for the goal.”

After Heuer’s goal, sophomore striker Maddie Hoffman scored a pair of goals and Eaton made it 4-0 with her first goal toward the end of the first half. Sano struck for her three goals in the second half, and junior midfielder Sophie Stenstadvold and freshman forward Katie Staerkel scored down the stretch to push the final tally into double-digits.

Eaton also had three assists, Pollock had two and senior midfielder Shannon Hutton, Schmitt, Sano and freshman Bailey Holmes contributed one apiece.

“It’s been a lot of fun this year, maybe because a lot of us have been playing together since we were kids,” said Eaton. “Now, each game we’ve got to learn from our mistakes and work on what we can improve on for the next game. But really, we’re all trying to play with our hearts and let that be our guide.”

Said coach Woods: “I do know that we’re definitely not in an offensive rut. But we’re going to have to step up as we go. It’s not going to be as easy as this next time.”Said coach Woods: “I do know that we’re definitely not in an offensive rut. But we’re going to have to step up as we go. It’s not going to be as easy as this next time.”


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