Austin Colbert/Aspen Times
Typically, a young roster would create a lot of stress for any coach.
But for Molly Demmer, who is in her third season as Basalt High School girls soccer coach, her team's inexperience also brings a lot of skill, so there's plenty of reason to be excited about the future.
“We have high expectations for this team. They have a positive attitude and are here to learn with us,” DeMar said of the Longhorns ahead of the Longhorns in Tuesday's home opener. after losing 3-1 to Grand Junction.
“Last year we lost five seniors, which was huge,” she continued. “But to host tryouts and see the talent coming in, of course you have to have confidence as a freshman and you have to learn how to play with guys who have been on this team for a while. But at the same time, it clicks every day.”
Demmer said BHS currently has five freshmen in the starting lineup, with only senior multi-sport standout Jaycee Reed playing in her first game Tuesday.
Basalt, playing for the third time as a team this spring (the term was used loosely as they were once again under the threat of winter storms), trailed Grand Junction 2-2 at halftime of Tuesday's game. It was led by 0. But Reed's goal with just over 29 minutes remaining cut that gap in half, making the final minutes even more tense.
Basalt's best chance to score the tying goal came about seven minutes after Reed's goal. This time he hit the left goal post, missing what would have been the tying goal by just inches. Instead, it bounced harmlessly away, and BHS struggled to put together many legitimate scoring opportunities in stoppage time.
“We're relying on her, but we're really excited about this year because we have so much talent. We expect to see a lot more goal scorers than we've had in the past.” DeMar said of Reed. “I definitely miss last year's team, but I think there's a lot of room for growth. I told the freshmen at the beginning of the year that this was going to be their team. They have a chance to grow a really great program. So I'm really looking forward to it. They have great leaders on their team.”
The Tigers improved to 1-1-1 with Tuesday's win, while Basalt fell to 1-2. The Longhorns opened the season last weekend with neutral games against Telluride (1-0 win) and Crested Butte (7-1 loss). BHS next travels to Steamboat Springs on Saturday.
Basalt is coming off a 7-7-2 2023 season that ended with 19th-seeded BHS losing 3-0 to 14th-seeded Salida in the first round of the Class 3A state tournament. . The Longhorns made it to the postseason in Coach DeMar's first year, going 5-10-1 in 2022, but were seeded 27th in the first round by 6th-seeded Colorado Springs Christian. We lost with one win and one loss.
Reed and a number of freshmen are now hoping to get the Longhorns back for a third consecutive year. I hope the spring weather helps.
“Honestly, this is our third game, but we've only been outside for four days. I think we can make progress,” DeMar said. “Our culture is really good. We've always had a really positive team. That's something that has taken time to develop over the past three seasons.”
Aspen women's soccer is 0-0-1-1 after the opening weekend, including a 4-0 loss to Crested Butte and a 1-1 tie with Telluride. Both games were played in Grand Junction.
AHS is scheduled to play at Grand Valley on Thursday, followed by Vail Mountain School visiting the AHS turf on Saturday for the skiers' home opener.
acolbert@aspentimes.com
