The Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — It didn’t take a lucky shot, an advantageous referee’s call or a bizarre twist of fate.

The Steamboat Springs High School girls lacrosse team won its first game of the season, beating Mountain Range, 6-3, on Wednesday in Steamboat, by simply outplaying the Mus­tangs.

Sailor senior Mollie Wun­der scored two goals in the first half and sophomore Hannah Poland scored three in the second as Steamboat built and maintained a comfortable lead.

“To get a win is great, and not just for me,” Wunder said. “It’s great because we have a lot of new players this year. I know what it feels like to win and letting them know what it feels like is great.”

Steamboat led, 5-1, in the second half, but Mountain Range scored a pair of late goals. Kristen Harkrader slipped a ball past Steamboat goalie Madison Doglio with 5:50 remaining in the game, and KK Reno got a shot in over Doglio after a pack of Mus­­­­tangs and Sailors slam­med together, fighting for the ball right in front of the net. They were two of the freshman goalie’s few gaffs on the afternoon. Mountain Range and Harkrader in particular, kept the pressure on the Steamboat Springs defense, even after a comeback seemed impossible.

Time and time again, Doglio scooped shots from the air or swatted them down, the defense in front of her applying consistent and effective stick checks. She had little trouble with the balls and attackers that did slip through.

Harkrader scored two Mus­tang goals — she put her team up, 1-0, at 21 minutes, 32 secons in the first half — and threatened all game, surging toward the net with strong runs and quick shots. It failed to translate into decisive goals, however.

“Our goalie was great, and our defense was great,” Steam­boat coach Jennifer Kirk­­pat­rick said. “Laura Riley and Brooke Johnston were awesome. They came up with ground balls and came up to help our goalie. They did exactly what we’ve asked all season.”

Steamboat lost both its games last weekend. The Sailors fell, 19-0, to Kent and 18-2 to Colorado Academy. But they found plenty of paths to the back of the net Wednesday.

Wunder answered Hark­rader’s first goal just three minutes later, turning a pass from Jamie Townes into a powerful blast into the back of the net.

She gave Steamboat the lead for good at the 2:10 mark of the first half, bouncing a ball in after winning the fight for a ground ball 10 feet in front of the goal.

“Mollie and Hannah have a little more experience than the other girls, and they can see the field well,” Kirkpatrick said. “They can see when the net is open, when there’s a good opportunity, and they capitalized on it.”

Amber James scored for Steamboat on an assist from Kristin Elliott early in the second before Poland’s onslaught put the game away.

Poland, scoring with the help of two assists from Townes, put her first one in with 15:13 remaining. She swung around from behind the net on the goalie’s right side, then cut across the top before hammering a shot back in through a pair of defenders, past the keeper’s left hand.

Her final goal helped squel­ch any small hope Mountain Range had of making it a game in the waning seconds.

“It took a lot of teamwork,” Poland said. “The reason I got the goals was because of the assists from Jamie. She was awesome.

“When we come together as a team, more people can get goals.”

— To reach Joel Reichenberger, call 871-4253 or e-mail jreichenberger@steamboatpilot.com