Roaring Fork dominates Rampart in first round of girls lacrosse playoffs
Taylor Cramer/Glenwood Springs Post Independent
In what was a battle of the Rams to kickoff the opening round of the Class 4A girls lacrosse state playoffs, No. 11-seeded Roaring Fork clinched a dominant 15-6 victory over No. 22 Rampart on Tuesday in Carbondale.
Roaring Fork junior Josie McKinley-Kitchell opened the scoring with a goal with 10:32 left in the first quarter. Sophomore Jordyn Miller followed with a penalty shot, putting Roaring Fork ahead 2-0. Rampart’s Elizabeth Bancroft got her team on the board, but Roaring Fork responded quickly with senior midfielder Grace Garcia slipping one past Rampart’s goalie to make it 3-1.
Junior Hailey Wolfe extended Roaring Fork’s lead to 4-1 after a rebound shot early in the first quarter, giving the No. 11 Rams a comfortable lead. Bancroft tried to close the gap with another attempt, but junior goalie Ella Gunning made a key save, which was a common theme throughout the day, to maintain the lead.
Freshman Chiara Marjaniemi added a goal for Rampart, but McKinley-Kitchell and Wolfe both answered, scoring before the end of the quarter, making it 6-2 for Roaring Fork. The two goals propelled Roaring Fork to what would be a 6-0 run before Rampart finally found an answer.
McKinley-Kitchell completed her hat trick early in the second quarter, backhanding a goal past the defense. Wolfe and sophomore Juliana Pittz also found the net before McKinley-Kitchell scored her fourth, bringing the score to 10-2. Freshman Marin Weaver broke through Rampart’s defense, then scored on a penalty shot just before halftime, giving Roaring Fork a commanding 11-2 lead.
Wolfe notched another early in the third quarter to make it 12-2. Rampart responded with goals from junior Mia Thorne and another from Bancroft, but Roaring Fork junior Lilu Illouz cut through the defense late in the third quarter and found the back of the net to keep the Rams firmly ahead.
Thorne managed to score again for Rampart, but two fourth-quarter goals for Roaring Fork sealed the win at 15-6.
After the game, Roaring Fork coach Drew Kitchell highlighted his team’s resilience.
“We know our strengths,” Kitchell said. “We have a saying that Coach Dahl (Miller) invented. ‘It’s all grit, no quit,’ and that really came through for us.”
He added that their focus would now shift to Thursday’s matchup against No. 6 Northfield in Denver.
“It’s going to be a game where we’re gonna have to definitely bring our A-game,” Kitchell said. “We got some kids that can play, as you guys have seen, and I like our chances.”
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