Aspen High girls lacrosse holds off Battle Mountain
Vail Daily
Chris Dillmann| Daily file photo |
EDWARDS — The postgame huddle for the Battle Mountain girls lacrosse team was somber after a 12-7 loss to Aspen on Thursday.
And while these girls are far too well-spoken and polite to say it, the general sentiment was, “Frugnuts, Aspen, again.”
If lacrosse were Melville, the Huskies are Captain Ahab and Aspen is Moby Dick, except that sports dictate that eventually Ahab will get the whale. (Battle Mountain did win in 2013.)
But right now, it’s frustrating for the Huskies.
“I think losing, in general, and especially against Aspen, makes us want to drive harder and work for everything,” Huskies junior Haley Frischholz said. “We know it’s not easy and it’s not going to get any easier.”
First, do note that this was not the league game against the Skiers. That’s April 21 in Pitkin County.
That’s the critical game which will go a long way toward figuring out who gets the Mountain League’s bid to state.
Second, this was a game, though the Huskies (3-1) suffered their first loss. Aspen led 8-3 at the half, and the Huskies kept charging in the second half.
“I love (our heart) and I can’t wait to see it in practice tomorrow,” Huskies coach Emily Jaissle said.
And, therein lies the challenge. Jaissle challenged her team after Thursday’s game to bring the intensity to practice. The message was will this game define this season or will Battle Mountain write its own course for the rest of the season.
“I think it just makes us want to fight back harder the next time,” Frischholz said. “I personally have not beaten Aspen yet. I know that our entire team is excited to play them again and move on for the next games as well.”
Maddie Berger scored the second of her two goals in the second half. Chloe Doctor followed. Haley Frischholz completed her hat trick and a Morgan Harty goal got the Huskies within 9-7 with 12:39 left in the game.
The Huskies kept pushing in a scoreless stretch during the next 11 minutes, but could not find that elusive goal, which might have swung the momentum.
Credit must go to both Aspen keeper Hannah Clauss and Huskies netminder Siena Miller on that count.
“I think we did well on never giving up and knowing that we had to fight for everything,” Frischholz said. “I think we did well working as a team for the most part. There’s always stuff we can fix. It’s early in the season.”
Aspen improved to 2-2 on the season. The Skiers won at Durango 19-3 before losses at Grand Junction (19-8) and Denver East (15-4).
The Aspen girls will play again April 6 at Pine Creek in Colorado Springs.
Girls soccer
In other prep action Thursday, the Vail Mountain School girls soccer team shut out Aspen 2-0.
The Gore Rangers improved to 3-0-0 on the season.
Aspen moved to 3-2-0 after earlier victories over Roaring Fork, Basalt and Grand Valley.
The Aspen girls will head into spring break next week.
Their next scheduled game will be April 5 when they host Vail Christian.
