Preps: Playoff pandemonium gets underway for lacrosse, girls soccer
AHS boys, girls lacrosse teams host games on Tuesday
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
The spring postseason has arrived. With high school playoff brackets having been unveiled for soccer and lacrosse, here’s what local teams are facing in the coming days:
AHS boys lacrosse hosts Grand Junction on Tuesday
Thanks to a late-season run, the Aspen boys lacrosse team rallied to earn the No. 15 seed in Class 4A and will host No. 18 Grand Junction in the first round. That game is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Tuesday on the AHS turf.
The Skiers finished the regular season 8-7 overall, with four straight wins to enter the postseason. AHS was only 2-5 going into an April 11 win over Glenwood. Grand Junction also is 8-7 overall. The teams did not meet in the regular season.
The Aspen-GJ winner will play No. 2 Cheyenne Mountain in the second round on Friday.
Glenwood also made the 4A field, earning the No. 21 seed. The Demons will play at 6 p.m. Tuesday at No. 12 Windsor. The winner advances to play No. 5 Telluride.
Erie is the No. 1 seed in the 24-team bracket. Steamboat Springs is seeded No. 3.
AHS girls lacrosse hosts Telluride on Tuesday
Aspen girls lacrosse is into the postseason as the No. 10 seed in 4A and will host No. 23 Telluride (4-9) in the first round. That game is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday on the AHS turf, or following the AHS boys lacrosse playoff game.
The Skiers finished the regular season 10-5 overall with four straight wins to enter the playoffs.
Aspen and Telluride played each other in their March 8 season opener. AHS won, 17-5.
The winner of the rematch will advance to play No. 7 Green Mountain in the second round.
Coming in with the No. 11 seed is Roaring Fork. The Rams (9-5) will host No. 22 Rampart (5-10) at 4 p.m. Tuesday in the first round. The winner will play No. 6 Northfield in the second round.
Mead is the No. 1 seed, followed by No. 2 Evergreen and No. 3 Battle Mountain.
Area soccer teams make state field
Roaring Fork girls soccer (8-4-3) is the No. 10 seed in the 3A field and will host No. 23 Longmont (9-6) in the first round. That game is scheduled for 5 p.m. Thursday in Carbondale.
Basalt (6-8-1) is the No. 20 seed and will play at No. 13 Eagle Ridge Academy (7-7) in the first round. That game is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Thursday.
The Longhorns used an impressive 1-1 draw against Vail Mountain on April 30 and a 2-1 win over Coal Ridge on May 2 to secure a postseason spot.
Aspen snuck into the 32-team field by earning the No. 30 seed. The Skiers (5-9-1) will play at No. 3 Kent Denver (11-3-1) in the first round. That game is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Thursday.
Colorado Academy is the No. 1 seed and Jefferson Academy is No. 2. Delta is No. 4 and Vail Mountain is No. 11. Coal Ridge is No. 28 and plays at No. 5 Stargate School in the first round.
Girls tennis gets one through
Following regional play this past weekend, Aspen junior Greta Holton qualified for a spot in this week’s Class 3A state tennis tournament in Colorado Springs.
Playing at No. 2 singles, Holton finished second behind Vail Christian’s Juliet Studness at regionals. Only the two regional finalists qualify through to state from each flight.
Holton will play Timnath junior Sarah Daniels in the first round at state on Thursday. The finals are played Saturday.
Holton is the lone state qualifier between Aspen and Basalt this spring.
Baseball enters home stretch
Entering the final week of the regular season, Aspen baseball remains hopeful of snagging a spot in regional play. The Skiers are 8-10-1 overall; they lost a pair to powerhouse Coal Ridge over the weekend.
Aspen is next scheduled to play Tuesday at Basalt (4:30 p.m. first pitch). The AHS season closes out with home games against Grand Valley (Thursday) and Olathe (DH, Saturday).
Basalt (7-12), despite having a worse record, is sitting better than AHS in terms of RPI heading into this week. The Longhorns will host Aspen on Tuesday before closing out with home games against Rifle (Wednesday) and Delta (DH, Saturday).
The regional field will include 32 teams, largely based off RPI and MaxPreps rankings. As for RPI, BHS was No. 24 and Aspen was No. 36, as of Monday evening.
Track and field preps for state
The regular season is effectively over for area track and field teams as we await the final list of athletes to have qualified for the postseason.
The state championships are scheduled for May 16-18 at Jefferson County Stadium in Denver. A handful of local athletes are expected to qualify and compete.
Girls golf eyes regionals
The AHS girls golf season winds down with a couple of final tournaments this week. Then, their 3A regional tournament is scheduled for Tuesday at Cattails Golf Course in Alamosa.
Aspen’s four-player squad is looking to qualify for the May 20-21 state championship at The Olde Course in Loveland. The Skiers were the 3A state runner-up in 2023.
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