Roaring Fork Rams Advance to State Semifinals After Penalty Win

Aspen —The wind off the Roaring Fork River cuts through the stands at Rams Field in Carbondale, chilling the fans who just watched their team survive a match that looked impossible to win. On paper, the odds were stacked against No. 3 Roaring Fork. In practice, the Rams played with a desperation that turned a routine quarterfinal into a chaotic spectacle.

Let’s do the math on what happened Saturday. Roaring Fork entered the game trailing 2-1 with 20 minutes left in regulation. Then the cards started flying. Senior defender Michael Parada went down with a second yellow. Seven minutes later, senior defender Randy Candela received a straight red. Suddenly, the Rams were playing with nine men.

But it didn’t stop there. Warriors freshman midfielder Didier Mendoza was sent off. Roaring Fork head coach Nick Forbes was ejected. Four red cards in one game. The crowd needed nearly 10 minutes to cool down after the second ejection.

Forbes tried to keep his composure in the post-game press conference. He called the refereeing decisions "a level of injustice" but refused to let it define the narrative. "I don’t need to speak too much to the reffing because I want to speak about the ability the boys showed," he said. "Even though we were two men down, we were camped in their end for what felt like the whole second half."

The turning point came with six minutes left in regulation. Junior midfielder Felipe Oliva crashed the net following a saved free kick, leveling the score at 2-2. The crowd erupted. The Warriors pushed hard, but the Rams held firm. Two 10-minute overtime periods passed without a goal. It came down to penalties.

Junior defender Nico Passarini-Burks sealed the victory with a screaming shot past the Warriors goalkeeper. He was mobbed by his teammates. The Rams won the shootout 4-1.

Now, the Rams travel to Lakewood for the state semifinals on Wednesday. They will be without Parada, Candela, and Forbes. All three are suspended. That’s a significant loss. Parada and Candela are key defenders. Forbes is the voice of the team.

Can Roaring Fork handle the gap? Forbes believes so. He pointed to the team’s discipline and focus during the chaos in Carbondale. "They are disciplined, they’re focused, and the fact that they stayed levelheaded and didn’t get emotional after all of that makes me just incredibly impressed," he said. "That was the most remarkable thing I’ve ever seen on a soccer pitch."

The practical bottom line for locals is simple. Roaring Fork has earned a spot in the state semifinals. They did it while playing with nine men for large stretches of the game. The next test is in Lakewood. The Rams will be missing three key figures. The pressure is now on the remaining squad to prove that the grit shown in Carbondale wasn’t a fluke.