Steamboat Springs girls lacrosse head coach Liz Dierdorf wanted to put an emphasis on being aggressive and setting the tone early in games in 2023. 

The team opened the season at home on Tuesday, March 14, scoring three goals in the first two minutes, leading the way to a dominant 18-8 victory over the Summit Tigers. 

“Today we made it one of our team goals to score first and be a first half team,” Dierdorf said. “I think in the past we have had some trouble coming out flat and I think we really brought it today.”

It was a scoring carousel for the Sailors in the first half, with the team finding the net 12 times in the first 25 minutes of play. 

Two Sailors earned hat tricks in the first half alone with sophomore Anna Grove leading the way with four goals and freshman Kate Ryan finding three of her own as well. 

It was a surreal moment for Ryan to score a hat trick in her first varsity game. She was nervous all morning in school and said she was buzzing in class. 

Ryan was the first Sailor to score on the season and says it is a moment she will never forget. 

“I knew I had to come out here and give it my all,” Ryan said. “It was my first varsity game in my high school career so I really needed to put myself out there, turn the hustle to 100% and be present on the field today.”

Taking a 12-5 lead to halftime, Steamboat never let up in the second half and tallied six more goals in the final 25 minutes of play. 

Grove said it was huge to see the team score so frequently throughout the game. The offense showed heart and the confidence continued to grow deeper into the night. 

“One goal leads to another which leads to other people scoring which just gets the team rolling,” Grove said. 

It showed Dierdorf that the girls have come to play this season and have every intention of winning a lot more than just the three games they won in 2022. 

Now sitting on a 1-0 record with a league win, the team will travel to Grand Junction for a non-league game on Wednesday, March 15. 

Dierdorf hopes this game boosted the team’s confidence even further and wants the girls to continue to play at such a high level. This was a big step in the right direction for the Sailors.

“Starting the year with a big win is a great way to carry momentum throughout the season so I think we’re going to be excited coming off of this,” Dierdorf said. “I think it will be a big confidence boost for us and sometimes I think we need it.”