No. 3-ranked Battle Mountain girls lacrosse claims third-straight league title with dominant win over Aspen

The Battle Mountain girls lacrosse team claimed its third-straight league championship with a 20-9 win over No. 8-ranked Aspen on Thursday in Edwards. Head coach Mat Ballay called the victory a “total team effort.”

“Everyone came out flying and the midfielders set the tone to start the game,” he said.

Looking to make amends for a crushing 10-goal home loss to No. 2 Green Mountain the previous day, Abigail Rowe opened the senior-night affair with a score 81 seconds in.

“I got shooting space so I was like, ‘just make it in the goal’ so we can start the game strong and go from there,” said Rowe, who added an assist and four ground balls later on.

“Yesterday, we were kind of down,” said Murphy Werner. “We used that as momentum to come back swinging. I feel like we really played as a team today and it showed.” Werner recorded her second-straight hat trick game on Thursday.

Support Local Journalism

Donate

“We trusted each other,” the junior continued. “And it made all the difference.” 

Aspen’s Lindsay Waldeck scored a pair of first-quarter goals to keep the Skiers in the mix early on. The senior came around the net and capitalized on a designed dead-ball play to make it 2-2 with 4:44 left in the opening period. But Battle Mountain’s Addie O’Connor responded 30-seconds later with her second goal of the quarter to keep the momentum on the home team’s side. For all 48 minutes, there was never a doubt of who controlled the game.

“(I was) most proud of the effort and how supportive they were of one another,” Ballay stated.

The Huskies went on a 9-1 second-quarter run to blow the game wide open. The twin connection from Izzy and Kate Kovacik — the former scored twice and the latter had a game-high five assists — was instrumental in building the 12-4 halftime lead. Isabelle Adochio tallied four goals and Isabel Thomas used her speed and savvy shot-making abilities to score twice as the Huskies cruised to a dominant double-digit victory.

“I think we played way more as a team today,” said Rowe. “I feel like this win is going to help push us into postseason.”

Claiming another 4A Mountain East championship by dispatching Aspen held special significance, particularly for the seniors. They were sophomores when the Huskies ended the Skiers’ 57-game league win streak in 2023. They enjoyed a perfect 10-0 mark during their junior campaigns before closing out their prep careers with a 9-1 record.

“You know, getting league champs three years in a row is really exciting. I think (we) want to keep going and go farther each year,” said Kylah Romer, who was honored with fellow seniors Alexa McGuire, Caylen Holleman and Sloane Thompson prior to the first draw. With his junior-heavy squad, Ballay said this senior class stood out despite its size because they “led by example.”

“It’s a small class,” he said. “So, you know them all a little bit better and that makes the whole process a bit more fun because you get to build those relationships.”

The Huskies came into last year’s playoffs with a perfect 15-0 record, but were eliminated by Northfield in the state quarterfinals. Part of the plan to take the next step this season: facing top-tier Front Range teams throughout the regular season. The Huskies took down No. 4 Steamboat Springs twice and No. 5 Mead earlier this year but also fell to No. 1 Evergreen, No. 2 Green Mountain and No. 6 Golden.

“I think something Ballay really emphasized was playing all the teams that we’re going to play in playoffs,” Romer said. “We got to get a taste of everyone — and we got them next time.”

“Coming at these Denver teams that are ranked high and have lots of practice and are known to be good — we’ve always had confidence that if we have the right attitude and mindset, we can accomplish all we want and much more,” Werner added.

The 4A playoff brackets will be seeded on Sunday. The No. 3-ranked Huskies (11-4 overall, 9-1 league) will likely receive a first-round bye before hosting a second-round contest later next week. When asked what the baseline expectation is for the postseason, Werner quickly responded.

“We want to win. We want to go all the way,” the junior said. “That’s the mindset.”