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Devils lax falls at Steamboat

Luke Graham
Vail, CO Colorado
Eagle Valley High School senior Bryan Carrillo recovers a loose ball during Tuesday's match against Steamboat Springs. Eagle Valley lost the match 1-15.
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STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colorado ” It could have been an eerie scenario for the Steamboat Springs boys lacrosse team.

The Sailors hadn’t played in 10 days because of postponements due to weather. Their practice time had been relegated to a lot of gym work and minimal time outside. Add in they’d never seen Tuesday’s opponent, Eagle Valley, and Steamboat coach Bob Hiester admitted there were some nervous thoughts before the game.

Any anxiousness was put on hold within the first three minutes of Tuesday’s 15-1 win, as the Sailors put on a clinic and remained atop the Mountain Conference with a perfect 7-0 record.



“If you looked at the other scores, I think we were a better team,” Hiester said. “The nervousness comes from worrying about not playing as a team and doing too much individual stuff. I never thought we’d lose, but was worried we could make it one of those raggedy things. But we set the tempo for the game. I was very pleased.”

Steamboat went up 3-0 in the first three minutes Tuesday, getting goals from Garret Ehrick, Jack Spady and Andrew White.

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From there it snow-balled, with nearly every Steamboat player filling up the stat sheet. Ehrick and Grippa each scored twice more, Gus Worden tossed in a couple, Tyler Samlowski snuck one in and Jackson Coe scored to give Steamboat an 11-1 lead heading into halftime.

Save for an Anders Blomquist goal late in the first quarter, Steamboat showed why it has been the class of the Mountain Conference.

“I think our communities are very similar,” Eagle Valley coach Eric Mandeville said about similarities between his and the Steamboat programs. “They’ve got a strong program and have been playing a long time. We have the capability. These kids play hard. We have the makings of a program. It’s just going to take some time. Just like any skilled sport, it’s going to take some time. But we’ll get there.”

Eagle Valley lacrosse is next in action Friday at Durango.

” To reach Luke Graham, call 871-4229 or e-mail lgraham@steamboatpilot.com


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