Steamboat Springs tops Devils girls lacrosse, 12-7
May 3, 2017
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS — The Steamboat Springs girls lacrosse team capped off its best season in more than a decade on Wednesday at Gardner Field with a 12-7 home win over Eagle Valley.
"It was a great way to end the season and a great way to end my high school career playing lacrosse," Steamboat's Cassett Yeager said. "This is one of the best seasons that I have ever played. This was the best team and best everything. It's been awesome."
Yeager scored the first goal of the game with 19:07 left to play in the first half to give the Sailors an early lead over Eagle Valley.
But the lead was short lived as Eagle Valley got goals from Lindsay Martinez, Abby Jewett and Camille Blose to take a 3-1 lead midway through the half. Blose assisted two of the three goals.
The first half was a game of runs for both teams, and after Eagle Valley took the lead, the young Steamboat team came roaring back to life.
Recommended Stories For You
Goals by Riley Schott (7:32), two from Lucy Shimek (5:13 and 3:26) and another from Ellie Crouch with 32 seconds remaining in the half helped the Sailors secure a 5-3 advantage headed into the break.
But Eagle Valley also had hopes of leaving Gardner Field with the win.
"We worked really hard on improving our defense in practice yesterday," Eagle Valley coach Jessi Dondero said. "I think it showed for most of the game, but I think they got tired in the last couple of minutes, and that was the difference."
The game was a back-and-fourth battle for most of the second half. Eagle Valley got back in the game thanks in part to goals from Martinez (21:25) and another from Blose (17:25) to tie the game at 5-5.
Steamboat's Schott gave her team some breathing room with two for the home team to make the score 7-5, but Eagle Valley's Rachel Devlin kept things close with a goal of her own to make the score 7-6.
Things took a turn when Eagle Valley inadvertently put the ball in the back of their own net while attempting the clear the ball with a little over 12 minutes to play. Sailors coach Betsy Frick thinks that mistake may have shifted the momentum to the Sailors' favor.
"We were pretty evenly matched — probably more so than the score indicates, and they played really well," Frick said. "I think when they had the own goal, it was a little bit of a let down for them. After that we really took advantage of our opportunities … As soon as you get a little gap then it gets easier because the pressure is off."
Steamboat got a goal from Alicia Mitchell, then Schott intercepted a pass right in front of the Devils' goalie and put the ball in the back of the net. Yeager then scored for the second time to give Steamboat an 11-6 lead.
Steamboat's goalie Ava Theil was solid in the closing minutes and finished the game with 11 saves.
To reach John F. Russell, call 970-871-4209, email jrussell@SteamboatToday.com or follow him on Twitter @Framp1966
Trending In: Sports
- Freud: Beaver Creek Birds of Prey saga vaults Hirscher to win? (column)
- Nothing finer: Battle Mountain cross-country’s Hardings head to North Carolina
- Freud: With 5 wins, does Shiffrin shoot for history? (column)
- Vail Valley preps wrap for Saturday: Vail Christian, Battle Mountain, Eagle Valley basketball and Huskies hockey
- Jake Pates, of Eagle, wins Dew Tour halfpipe competition
- Trust your gut: Man at center of I-70 stabbing incident warns public
- Vail Resorts CEO Rob Katz gives $2 million in grants to support mental health programs
- Russian spammers the likely source of fake email bomb threats, IT experts say
- Beaver Creek extends hours, opens more terrain Saturday
- Colorado Parks and Wildlife arrests 2 Florida men for poaching after anonymous tip