Battle Mountain beats Aspen girls in high-scoring lacrosse match
The Aspen Times
Aspen, CO, Colorado
ASPEN – The Skiers and the Huskies kept the scoreboard operator busy Tuesday afternoon.
And warm.
With chilly temperatures and an occasional brisk wind, the girls lacrosse teams warmly lit up the scoreboard with regularity, especially in the high-scoring second half of Tuesday’s game at Aspen High School.
In a Mountain League match that was tied nine times and featured seven lead changes, Battle Mountain led at the end, 14-10, with a total of 15 goals scored in the second half.
“They were a great team to play. Tough. Fun,” Aspen coach Lauren Riddick said of the visitors from Battle Mountain. “They are much improved all over the place. They are a very fun team to play.”
The Huskies, who led 5-4 at halftime, fell behind 9-8 before rallying behind a quick counterattack that netted four consecutive goals late in the second half.
“We’re still fighting some tough mental mistakes. But they showed you some of their best lacrosse,” Riddick said of the Skiers, who stormed back in the second half with a flurry of countering goals themselves.
Four times Shannon Turbidy diced through the Battle Mountain defense to score in the second half.
She tied the game at 7-7 before giving the Skiers their only second-half lead at 9-8 with 12:40 to play.
She potted the go-ahead goal on a wraparound shot.
After Battle Mountain’s Clare Baker scored back-to-back goals to give the Huskies a 10-9 lead, Nina Christensen tied the score with a goal for Aspen. It was her second of the game.
Baker, who would finish with five goals, scored the first of four Battle Mountain goals in a row.
Mabry Gentry found the net on a perfect pass from Maddi Conlin. Then, Baker and Conlin scored to help Battle Mountain improve to 7-3 overall, 7-2 in conference.
“It was more about getting us all together,” Battle Mountain coach Emily Jaissle said. “Once we got all together, we all got on the same page, and we can have amazing results like this.”
She said the Huskies missed several players early in the year, including some ski racers.
Still, Jaissle has only two substitutes to keep her company on the Battle Mountain sidelines.
“We’re small but strong. That’s our motto this year,” she said, crediting strong senior leadership on the tiny roster.
She also credited first-year goalie Sienna Miller, who turned back more than 20 Aspen shots.
“She’s unbelievable,” Jaissle said. “As a freshman, she plays physically like a senior and mentally like a junior.”
Aspen collected a late goal from Libby Dowley. Paige Johnson and Sarah Chiles also scored for the Skiers, 6-2 in conference, 6-3 overall.
The Skiers’ explosive offensive charges put a smile on their coach’s face after the game.
“We thought it was an improvement over our last game. You can’t ask for anything more than that,” Riddick said.
“I’m really excited to see what we can do in the next game,” the Aspen head coach said.
The Aspen girls will play at Fruita Monument on Thursday afternoon.
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