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No Hassall: Aspen wins home opener

Tim Mutrie
Aspens Emily Hassall, center, knocks in her third goal as Roaring Fork goalie Krispin Jewkes, left, defends during the second half in Aspen Tuesday. Aspen Times photo/Paul Conrad.
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If they’re weary from the road, the Aspen High girls soccer team didn’t show it Tuesday afternoon. In their long-awaited home debut, in their 10th match of the regular season, the Skiers cruised to a 3-1 victory over Roaring Fork behind a hat trick from Aspen newcomer Emily Hassall, a junior striker.

Under sunny skies and on a mostly green field, Aspen looked at home early. But Roaring Fork’s Whitney Campbell disrupted all that by booting a loose ball in front of the Aspen net in for a goal in the 32nd minute. Megan Zeigel assisted on the play.In the ensuing breath, however, Hassall answered for Aspen. Hassall, whose family, including sophomore midfielder, Julia, moved to the area from Philadelphia, connected with a crossing pass from Carly Sewell at close range. The blast caught the bottom nub of the crossbar and deflected in for a score, tying it up.Hassall put Aspen ahead 2-1 in the 39th minute after settling a pass from Taylor Buzbee about 22 yards out from the Roaring Fork net. She wheeled on the ball and ripped a line drive into the twines.

The third goal, at about 15 minutes into the second half, was assisted by Aspen goalie Carly Magill. Magill charged out of the goalie box to clear a ball, booting it 50 yards back the other way. Julia Hassall tipped the punt over to Emily, and big sister converted once again.Aspen improved to 4-5-1 overall and 3-2-1 in Class 3A Western Slope League play. Roaring Fork dropped to 3-4-1 overall and 3-3-1 in league. Earlier this season in Carbondale, Aspen and Roaring Fork tied 0-0.”It’s just good for us to be outside here, even for practice – we’ve only had three outside,” said Aspen coach Dave Comfort. “And you’re starting to see it in there in the game, just because we can do so much more tactically outside.”



“It’s nice to be up here – the weather cooperated – but it’s always a challenge playing Aspen,” said Roaring Fork coach Brad Zeigel. “They’ve got a strong program and a lot of strong girls.”Aspen hosts the Colorado Rocky Mountain School in another league game on Thursday at 4 p.m.Tim Mutrie’s e-mail address is mutrie@aspentimes.com