Huskies girls lax upsets Grand Junction, routs Durango
GRAND JUNCTION — Grand Junction girls lacrosse is undefeated no more.
Battle Mountain came west on Friday to hand the Tigers their first loss of the season, 14-9, as part of two-win weekend road trip.
Grand Junction beat the Huskies, 15-8, last year, so this was a big turnaround. It was also a big turnaround in the game itself as the Huskies trailed, 7-5, at the half. Battle Mountain thought it had narrowed that deficit to one with a goal at the end of the first half that was waived off.
In the final 25 minutes, the Huskies Haley Frischholz earned six draw controls, wins that allowed Battle Mountain possess the ball early and often. Frischholz had a moderately above average game because she also had seven goals.
“Those draw controls were definitely very important to maintaining possessions,” Huskies coach Emily Jaissle said. “(Goalie) Siena (Miller) had big saves. She had eight total saves. The defense was strong and aggressive.”
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Grand Junction was averaging 16 goals per game before Friday. The Tigers scored only nine on Friday. The other significance of Friday’s win was the Grand Junction has beaten Aspen in its league game. And while transitivity does not guarantee future results, the Huskies (5-1) probably can gain a little confidence from that.
Maggie Berger had a hat trick and Chloe Doctor struck twice. Lindsay Sierant and Katie Kessenich also scored.
The Huskies proceeded to Durango and blasted Durango, 14-3.
The Doctor (as in Chloe) was in with five. Sierant added a hat trick. Julia Heid, Natalie Berger, Marti Schmidt and Ciera Heiden ripped the twine as Battle Mountain moved to 6-1.
Battle Mountain returns home this week for big games against Steamboat Springs on Wednesday and Fruita Monument on Thursday. Both are at 4 p.m.
“We’re not taking anyone lightly,” Jaissle said. “We approaching everyone like they’re undefeated and the league leader.”
DURANGO
Devils beat Demons, 13-3
Like strangers in the night, Eagle Valley and Battle Mountain girls lacrosse likely passed each other on Friday on the west side of the state.
As the Huskies headed to Durango, the Devils were on their way back with a 13-3 win over the Demons on Friday.
“If we’re going to sit on the bus for 12 hours, we want to win the game,” Devils coach Stephanie Renzelman said. “That was our motivation.”
The Devils’ Jillian Byron won top-scoring honors for the day with eight goals. Lindsay Martinez, Camille Blose, Teaghan Mercer and Haley Carpenter also contributed to the onslaught.
Eagle Valley (5-3) heads to Aspen on Wednesday.
Sports Editor Chris Freud can be reached at 970-748-2934, cfreud@vaildaily.com and @cfreud.
