The Battle Mountain boys lacrosse team carried some pent up energy into Thursday’s rivalry game against the Gore Rangers.

“We’ve had one game since we started practice back in February,” head coach Pat Doherty said. “These boys have been itching to get on the field and play someone other than themselves.” The Huskies (2-1) capitalized, notching a 7-4 road victory over Vail Mountain School (2-3), their first win at VMS since March 14, 2019.

“It’s hard to win here,” Doherty stated. “These guys have had our number on this field for a long time.”  

After opening the season with a 12-8 loss to Evergreen on March 13, Eagle Valley forfeited its March 18 match against the Huskies. While Doherty said his team played OK against the Cougars, he was hoping to see defensive improvement after the long layoff. Mission accomplished.

“Our defense stepped up huge today,” he said.

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Jordan Jimenez was a big reason. The junior goalie let Charlie Vidal’s opening first-quarter score through but only allowed one more Gore Ranger goal until the final 82 seconds of regulation.

“You know, when the defense plays great, I play great. It’s not just me, it’s the whole team,” said Jimenez, who picked up a lacrosse stick for the first time a year ago and was tutored last year by all-state veterans Cash Case and Seth Bamford. 

“They taught me a lot,” Jimenez said. “With this great coaching staff and these boys, (they’ve) helped me become better.”

Joseph Dekanich found Asher Leonard from behind the net for a quick stick score to tie things up with 1:30 left in the first. Jimenez stopped three-straight shots on the Gore Rangers’ opening second-quarter possession, but Connor Wadey wound up from the wing to put the home team up 2-1 at the 8:30 mark. Carter Shonk, who tallied four goals in the Huskies’ first game, found the back of the net to knot things up again right before halftime.

While Jimenez was a fortress for the Huskies, freshman Fischer Bolster was a pretty impenetrable wall for Vail Mountain School as well.

“(He) was making huge saves in the first half,” Doherty said. “All the credit to him.” 

“He played out of his mind in goal,” Vail Mountain coach Stephen Michel added before praising another defensive bright spot, Brody Provencher: “He came out and dominated at the LSM.”

The defensive struggle continued until 5:38 left in the third, when Morris found Keelan Losa, who absorbed contact in close and finished for the go-ahead goal. Three minutes later, Dekanich threaded the needle with a cross-field pass to Losa, who tapped in the layup from just outside the crease. On the other end, Trevor Dunn and soccer star-turned-lacrosse rookie Charlie Strauch bottled up Vidal.

“They were sending two or three guys at him,” Michel said. “If there’s three guys on the ball, there’s guys open on the field and we just have to make sure we’re finding those guys.”

Logan Roach extended the Huskies’ lead early in the fourth quarter. Working from behind the net, Roach curled around the crease and ripped a shot between Bolster and the post the second the side angle came into view. With their opponents deflated, the Huskies poured it on. After trapping Vidal on one of the Gore Rangers’ few offensive possessions, Dekanich received a brilliant outlet pass, deked it inside and scored for the four-goal lead. Just 21 seconds later, Brody Ast got in on the action to make it 7-2.

“They came out and were pressuring us, and we just weren’t up for handling the pressure,” Michel said when asked about the difference between the two halves. “I think that was the main takeaway.”

Doherty said the message coming out of the break was to be more patient.

“We were forcing it a bit in the first half,” the coach said. “We needed to value our possessions a lot more. And so, I think the boys did a great job of that in the second half.”

Wadey would score his second goal with 1:22 to go and Drew Johnson made things look a little closer with a VMS goal right before the buzzer. Moving forward, Michel said his team needs to clean up the fundamentals.

“We were making mental mistakes, physical mistakes … we threw the ball away a ton,” he said. “And against a good team, you can’t be doing that. It’s going to cost you.”

Battle Mountain graduated 111 goals from the 2024 team that put six athletes on the all-state squad and went 15-3 before losing in the state semifinals. Doherty said this reload requires several juniors to play lead roles and some seniors, like Dekanich — who is in the X attack position for the first time — to learn new ones. The next stretch will give them plenty of time to practice. While the first month of the season only had two games, the Huskies play nine games in the next 20 days.

“Once these guys start to roll a little bit and figure they’re positions out and their roles out,” Doherty said. “I think we’re going to be a tough team to beat.”