Vail Mountain spoils Battle Mountain’s bid for boys lacrosse season sweep with fourth-quarter comeback

The Vail Mountain School boys lacrosse team turned the tables on Battle Mountain in Tuesday’s rivalry rematch. After falling to the Huskies 7-4 at home last month, the Gore Rangers rallied for an 8-6 come-from-behind victory in Edwards.

“I know we played the dogs, but we looked like the dogs,” said VMS senior Winston Pillsbury, who scored twice in the fourth quarter, including the go-ahead goal with 7:21 left. “Honestly, it feels electric. Super stoked. I think this was the first game this season where we really came together and played our entire roster together — from our goalie to our attackmen.”

Charlie Vidal put the Gore Rangers on the board first, scoring the first of his three goals just two minutes into the contest. But the visitors were on their heels for much of the next three quarters.

“We were on defense most of the time,” admitted head coach Stephen Michel, whose team came into the contest on a four-game losing streak. “And that’s been an issue we’ve had the last four games.”

Battle Mountain captain Keelan Losa had his way, scoring at the end of the first quarter and 28 seconds into the second to put the black and gold up 3-1. Logan Roach got in on the action as well, sliding one past Vail Mountain’s freshman goalie Fischer Bolster to make it 4-1 with 9:29 left in the half. By the time Losa scored his third goal of the game four minutes into the third quarter, it was 6-3 and Vail Mountain looked mostly deflated. Recognizing his team was struggling to clear, Michel added another offensive stick to help his team get the ball over.

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“But we also sat there and said ‘Look, this is your rival. It’s like, we can’t coach effort, we can’t coach intensity — you guys have to bring that yourselves,'” he said. “And that’s what they did the second half.”

Pillsbury agreed the energy shift was less about Xs and Os.

“Today was 100% undoubtedly a mental task that we overcame,” he said. “I think we have the best coaching staff in the state to get us to the point we need to be, especially energy wise.”

Vidal scored at the end of the third to make it 6-4. Then, Drew Johnson found the back of the net 22 seconds into the fourth. Pillsbury tied it up with 10:35 to go and put in the eventual game-winner three minutes later. He said the switch his team flipped “came down to earning the right to play.”

“I think we’ve been taking the ability to play for granted,” said the senior, who has missed portions of soccer and lacrosse seasons with torn ACLs. “For me, I never want to take it for granted because I know any day I can get hurt out there.”

George Reihe put in a security goal with 6:09 remaining and Bolster — who wears the same number his older brother did at VMS — iced the game with several clutch stops down the stretch. When the final buzzer sounded, he found himself at the bottom of the celebration mob.

“It feels great to get a win after a big drought you could say. It’s amazing — all the boys hyped up,” Bolster said after finishing with 16 saves.

“This is extra special for them, especially having lost the first one at home,” Michel said, pointing specifically to the leadership his upperclassmen showed in the comeback. “It was a big thing for the seniors to step up and they really did.”

Battle Mountain fell to 4-6 with the loss but will get a chance for redemption on Thursday at home against Steamboat Springs. The Sailors are second in the league with a 4-1 mark. Vail Mountain School improved to 5-7 overall and 3-2 in league play going into spring break. The Gore Rangers return to the field on April 29 at Glenwood Springs before finishing out the regular season against Lutheran and Evergreen on May 1 and 3, respectively.

“I think it’s a complete shift after four losses to get a win,” Bolster said. “I think it’s going to be great; I don’t see us losing another game again.”