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Skiers spoil Gore Rangers’ party

Chris Freud
Vail correspondent
Aspen, CO Colorado
VMS-Aspen Soccer 10-11-08
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EAST VAIL ” Turnabout is fair play.

After the Vail Mountain School soccer team did a nice job of wrecking Aspen’s homecoming with a Tony Ryerson goal in the final minute of overtime last month, the Skiers returned the favor Saturday at Bandoni Alumni Field during the Gore Rangers’ Spirit Week by the same score of 1-0.

Not only did the Skiers lock up the third of the 3A Slope’s four playoff spots, but it was their first win in Vail since 2002.



“It was a great win,” Skiers coach Junior Sutherland said. “Our boys worked hard and deserved it. We’ve brought a lot of good teams up here and I think that this is the first time we’ve won on the turf. I’m pretty sure it is. I’m proud of these guys.”

“It’s great,” Aspen senior Kevin Frazier added. “I’ve never won in Vail. It’s a great thing to win. I think [last month] was the motivation. We lost in the second overtime to them. So it’s nice to come out here and beat them by the same score they beat us.”




Aspen (8-5-1 overall and 6-4-1 in league) got on the board courtesy of Frazier in the 34th minute. Dillon Travers and Frazier played a little give-and-go on the play to beat VMS goalie Sean Minett.

“Dillon, he was coming down the field,” Frazier said. “He hit the cross over. I just saw it and tapped it in. I guess it went past the keeper. I didn’t see it.”

Take our word for it, Kevin, and it stood.

VMS did have some chances, but Aspen did a nice job of shutting down Ryerson, who had scored in his previous three Spirit Week games.

While his team was devastated after the loss, coach Bob Bandoni had been holding a little something back from his team. Four teams from the Slope ” not three as the coach had led the Gore Rangers to believe ” advance to the state playoffs. So VMS’ dream of wearing orange, the school’s postseason color of choice, is still alive. The Gore Rangers must win Monday at Colorado Rocky Mountain School and Thursday at home against Roaring Fork and get a little help to capture their second straight trip to the playoffs.

During Saturday’s game VMS’ Matt White sustained a concussion. Bandoni took his player to the hospital and was unavailable for comment Saturday.