Battle Mountain lacrosse pushes into the quarterfinals

Under beautiful spring conditions in Edwards on Friday, Battle Mountain’s lacrosse program celebrated two big 4A playoff wins with the girls winning a “2026 Revenge Tour” matchup with Green Mountain, 17-2 — against the team that eliminated the Huskies in the semifinals last year — and the boys defeating Prairie View, 13-6, and hitting their playoff stride heading into the Round of 8.

“Green Mountain did end our season last year — they actually beat us twice, so we wanted to come out and play a good game, and the girls did that,” Battle Mountain girls coach Mat Ballay said on the field in Edwards.

“Prairie View is a good team,” Battle Mountain boys coach Pat Doherty said after the game. “We knew they were a good team and we needed to control the ball, and the offense did a great job of controlling the ball.”

With 14 seniors on the girls squad and 15 seniors on the boys team, Friday was a celebration of years of hard work coming to fruition with one last playoff run. And with a lively announcer on the mic, a cheering crowd and the boys and girls teams watching the other from the field in support, both teams enjoyed an evening of celebration before getting back to work in preparation for the next round of the playoffs.

Battle Mountain Boys take down Prairie View

No. 7 Battle Mountain came out calculated and with patience against No. 10 Prairie View on Friday night. The Huskies enjoyed a first-round bye, while the Thunderhawks put up 19 goals against Pueblo West in the first round.

Support Local Journalism

Donate

Skogen Wachter was dominant in faceoffs and also a force on defense, along with Champ McNair, Finn Lunde and Wyatt Watts punishing any offensive efforts by Prairie View.

“The defense played unbelievable,” Doherty said of his Huskies squad that led 7-1 at halftime on Friday. “That team scores a lot of goals, so only giving up 6 was great.”

Goalies Miles Engle and Jordan Jimenez were walls in net for the Huskies, with both goalies playing significant time this game and both making significant saves and forcing changes of possession.

“That might have been Miles’ best game of the season,” Doherty said postgame. “Those two have been huge contributors for us. They split time, but they both have been huge impact players for us. Jordan, this was his last game on his home field and came out and made a bunch of big saves in the fourth quarter.”

For Jimenez, not too shabby work for someone who picked up a lacrosse stick for the first time his sophomore year and now captains the Huskies lax team.

“Bruises go away – goals don’t,” Jimenez said after the game.

On offense, the usual suspects of Carter Shonk, Asher Leonard and Logan Roach were creating organized chaos for the Huskies. Disciplined offense led to a passing clinic by the Huskies on Friday and opportunity after opportunity at the net. Leonard — the team’s second-leading scorer this season — led the team with five goals. Shonk, the leading scorer for the team, added a hat trick of three goals. Roach added two goals, and Finn Lunde also found the net twice.

“Unselfish lacrosse has been the name of our game recently,” Doherty said, proud of his team’s generosity with the ball.

“The offense was flying around,” Shonk said outside of the locker room after the game. “We were moving the ball fast and getting shots off. We were moving out there.”

Battle Mountain hits the road next to play No. 2 Evergreen on Tuesday in the quarterfinals. The Huskies lost to the Cougars, 11-7, in Edwards on March 12, but it was the season opener for Battle Mountain while Evergreen had already played two games.

“But I think we’re a different team right now,” Doherty said.

Huskies girls dominate Green Mountain

All fourteen of the Huskies seniors remember losing to Green Mountain last year, ending their season just shy of the championship game. But on Friday, No. 1 Battle Mountain came out on a clear mission to dominate No. 17 Green Mountain from whistle to whistle, and that’s just what they did.

“We called this the 2026 Revenge Tour,” Isabel Thomas said after the game. “We were ready to come out, because we have the team this year and we have the talent and we have the depth.”

Izabelle Kovacik got the scoring going 37 seconds into the game for the Huskies, followed by Kate Kovacik and Emme Eaton en route to a 3-0 early lead.

“I thought for the first three quarters we were being really unselfish and sharing the rock and having a lot of assisted goals, and we love to see that,” Ballay said.

Ten Huskies scored goals on Friday, including three apiece from Kate Kovacik and Murphy Werner. Poppy Saunders, Addie O’Connor and Thomas scored two apiece.

“Our team motto this year has really been ‘Team First,'” Palmer Ulvestad said after the game. “This year we’ve come in with a stronger mindset that we’re a team and more of a family.”

Freshmen Saunders and Lindsey Wadey are also contributing to a team of experienced Huskies.

“Coming into my first year with the team, I was really nervous at the start, but the team-first mentality has definitely made us grow really close together,” Wadey said, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with her seniors after the game. “I just love playing on this team in general, it’s so fun.”

Up next, the Huskies host Aspen on Monday in the quarterfinals. The Huskies beat Aspen twice this year, 15-7 on March 23 and 19-5 on April 27. Many of the seniors on this Huskies squad remember playing against Aspen their freshman year — a snowy game that helped kick off four straight conference championships.

“It’s crazy that we’ve gone this far and he’s gotten to see us all grow, and help us grow,” Eaton said of respected Huskies coach Ballay. “He’s been there for us, and he’s been here the whole time.”

The Huskies want to finish their undefeated mission not just for themselves this season, but for their coaches and Battle Mountain faithful, too, and that mission continues Monday in Edwards.

Ross Leonhart is a freelance writer, editor, social media specialist, snowboard instructor, local emcee and more. Follow Ross Leonhart on Instagram at Colorado_Livin_On_the_Hill.