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Preps: Aspen boys lacrosse rolls on

Dale Strode
The Aspen Times

The Skiers harvested the fruits of a trip to Florida during a snowstorm in Aspen.

The Aspen High School boys lacrosse team, just back from a lacrosse spring break trip to Disney World, used a crisp offense and a stingy defense to beat visiting Thompson Valley 15-10 on a snowy Wednesday afternoon at the AHS field.

“The Florida trip definitely heped us out a lot,” said Aspen senior Matt Sovich, who scored three goals in the victory. “We really came together as a team.”



He said the practice time in Florida helped the Skiers refine their positioning.

“Now, everybody knows where everybody is going to be at any time,” Sovich said. “It showed today (Wednesday). We played very well as a team.”




Sovich potted back-to-back goals in the second period when the Skiers pulled away from a 3-3 tie to a 7-3 halftime lead.

Tyler Tick, who also would finish with three goals against Thompson Valley, opened the scoring for the Skiers after taking a pass from John Heaphey.

Jonathan Wells scored the first of his two goals to put Aspen up 2-0.

Thompson Valley, with a precise perimeter passing game, promptly tied the score 2-2 on goals from Johnny Parsons and Ryan Spitz.

Tick scored again before Brian McGhie answered for the Eagles, leaving the first quarter in a 3-3 tie.

Heaphey scored just 12 seconds into the second quarter to break the tie.

Sovich then scored twice, and Aspen’s Ryan Fitzgerald scored the first of his four goals to propel the Skiers into a 7-3 halftime lead.

“Our defense is a great unit,” Sovich said of the AHS defense that stymied the Eagles in front of goalie Jordan Cottrell.

“Jordan has been playing amazing. He has been exceptional this entire year,” said Sovich, the son of Cheryl and OB Sovich.

Trey Robinson and Harry Ferguson joined the AHS scoring parade in the second half as the Skiers improved to 8-1 overall.

Kale Wilson led Thompson Valley (5-3) with three goals.

Nick Clinton and Jonah Warren also potted goals for the visiting Eagles, who are on spring break this week. They spent much of Wednesday morning working out on the turf field at AHS before the afternoon varsity and junior varsity games.

“I think the trip to Florida has been … great for us,” Aspen head coach Mike Goerne said. “You see a lot of extra playing time for the boys. It’s a lot of time for the boys to come together as a group.”

He said the trip to Florida included three scrimmages against East Coat teams loaded with college prospects.

The Skiers also played John Burroughs High School of St. Louis in a regulation game, winning 19-8.

“You saw today, the boys were very poised out there. They were working fluidly with each other,” Goerne said. “It definitely dialed us up a notch to go down there and play in some warm weather.”

Unlike Wednesday, when the teams played in on-again, off-again heavy snow — which ended conveniently at the end of the varsity game.

“Now, we’re excited for another conference game,” Goerne said.

The Aspen boys lacrosse team will host Summit at 4 p.m. today.

“I love those back-to-back games,” Sovich said.

dstrode@aspentimes.com