This season has been a rollercoaster for the EHS boys varsity lacrosse team. They have almost an even number of wins and losses and fought to place highly in regionals in hopes of continuing to the state competition. The players have worked very hard to improve their game, take home some points for their team, and impress authoritative figures. This has not been an easy season for the team, but they continued to have a positive work ethic, have each other’s backs, and fight for one another both on and off the field.
“So far, this season has taught me to persevere no matter what and trust that my teammates will support me,” said Junior defense player, Nolan Tepper. “We never gave up and overcame having to come back from being down by a lot of points multiple times this year.”
It is never easy to bring back your energy and feel pumped up and ready to play your heart out when you are down by a lot of points. Comebacks are not uncommon though, and can occur if you focus on one point at a time. Not getting in your head so much learning to calm down and perform well under pressure is an important skill to learn, especially when you are playing a varsity sport. Having a positive attitude and lifting up those around you will bring everyone’s levels of confidence up and enhance everyone’s playing.
Their first game was away on Friday, March 8th, where they faced St. Mary’s Academy. They pulled through and won with a score of 14-1. They led in the first quarter 2-0. The team kept up their energy and finished the second quarter with a score of 7-0. They scored another 5 points in the third quarter while St. Mary’s only scored 1 point. EHS Boys Lacrosse finished off the game making another 2 goals in the fourth quarter.
In their second game on Wednesday, March 27th, the boys played against Heritage High School. They played at Legacy Stadium and brought home another thrilling win. The final score of this game was 15-2. They made 6 goals in the first quarter while Highlands Ranch made 1. They earned 1 point in the second quarter and 5 more in the third. Heritage did not score in either of these quarters. They got 3 more points in the final quarter, and Heritage only got 1.
On Wednesday, March 29th, EHS Boys Lacrosse defeated ThunderRidge High School (away) with a final score of 8-7. Although this tense game went into overtime, they focused on taking care of business, utilizing their strengths, and winning. In the first quarter of the game, ThunderRidge got started with a 3-0 lead. Eaglecrest began to work their way back in the second quarter. They scored 2 points in the second quarter while ThunderRidge scored 3 points. Eaglecrest gained 3 points in the 3rd quarter, and Thunder Ridge scored zero. They earned another 2 points while ThunderRidge earned one in the fourth quarter. In overtime, the team got one final point, and finished off the game.
EHS Boys Lacrosse moved on to play Palmer High School on Saturday, March 30th. They won this home game 16-3 at Legacy Stadium. In the first quarter, they scored 6 points while Palmer only scored 1 point. Eaglecrest got 7 points in the 2nd quarter while Palmer did not score any. Palmer scored one more point in the third quarter while Eaglecrest did not score any. The game wrapped up with the team scoring three points and Palmer scoring one.
The last game in the team’s 5 game winning streak was against Boulder High School, at our home field, beating them 8-4 on Saturday, April 6th. EHS Boys Lacrosse focused on playing hard and targeting the other team’s weaknesses to claim the victory.
The team proceeded through a tough series of losses in the next seven games. On Monday, April 8th, Eaglecrest lost their home game to Windsor High School 10-15. They lost to Pine Creek High School on Wednesday, April 10th at Pine Creek with a score of 7-12. They then lost to Golden High School (at Golden) on Saturday, April 13th with a final score of 5-8. The next game was on Monday, April 15th, against Chaparral High School at Legacy Stadium. They lost 10-13 but still tried their best. At Stutler, the boys lost 4-12 against Lewis-Palmer High School. This game occurred on Wednesday, April 17th. Their next loss was away, against Douglas County High School with a score of 2-8 on Friday, April 19th. Their final loss in this streak was on Monday, April 22nd, against Heritage High School. The score of that game was unfortunately 4-10.
Over the span of the next two games, the team was able to better communicate and gain 2 more wins. The team first beat Smoky Hill High School on Wednesday, April 24th at Legacy Stadium. The first quarter of the game was completed with EHS scoring 4 times, and Smoky Hill scoring 2 times. EHS made another beautiful 3 goals before going into halftime. Smoky Hill 2 goals. Smoky Hill gained 4 more points in the third quarter while our team only scored once. The team pulled through in the final quarter to beat Smoky Hill 12-11. We earned another 4 points, and Smoky Hill earned 3. This game was stirring, as it was senior night as well as the annual Hammer game. The team’s seniors were recognized and appreciated by everyone who attended this game. These rival teams have been competing in this game for a very long time. The team who wins gets to take home a giant, decorated hammer, which is more or less like a giant trophy. Eaglecrest has won this game for a solid 7 years now. The next big win for the team was against Prairie View High School at their home field on Friday, April 26th with an ending score of 13-4.
To finish off this exhilarating season, the team went to Arvada West on Wednesday, May 3rd where they lost with a close score of 8-10. Unfortunately, the boys did not rank high enough this season to qualify for the state competition.
“My favorite memory from this season was probably when we won our hammer game and had senior night,” said Senior Suvan-Dante Jones. “I look forward to this game every year, but being a Senior this year made it really special. I got recognized with my whole family out on the field and had a blast.”
It is always easy to get emotional and miss contributing to everything that you did in a sports program, but at some point, you have to move on and focus on your future goals. Playing against rival teams can always be nerve-racking, as you feel an intense urge to play your best for your family, friends, and school. The student section cheered them on to this satisfying victory as well. Lacrosse games are long and fanatical, but the boy’s training prepared them to come through and perform well this season.
These boys have grown a lot together. They have cried over losses and had to discuss what they need to do to pick up their game again. They have had major success and have cheered for one another tremendously. They have had to balance taking care of themselves and working hard for the team, and have made Eaglecrest proud this year. This year’s season in a nutshell was a whirlwind of tireless work that connected the team on a deeper level and led to great levels of excitement and pleasure.
