No. 3 Regis Jesuit boys lacrosse hands No. 1 Mountain Vista first loss of season
HIGHLANDS RANCH — Standing across from the top boys lacrosse team in the state didn’t phase a couple of Regis Jesuit underclassmen. If anything, it only made the spotlight a little bit brighter when they came through in the clutch.
Sophomore Anders Erickson and freshman Reed Babcock scored the game-tying and game-winning goals respectively, as the Raiders handed CHSAANow.com No. 1-ranked Mountain Vista its first loss. Regis Jesuit won the game 7-5.
“We’re just out there and playing as a team,” Babcock said. “It didn’t come down to just me, it came down to whoever had the shot and whoever had the dodge.”
With the end of the regular season just over a week away, taking down the top team in the state should give the Raiders (9-2 overall) a big momentum boost into the state playoffs. But coach Jim Soran doesn’t want he or his boys to get too far ahead of themselves.
“It was just the biggest game of the day,” Soran said. “We have a lot more to go as far as league play goes. It’s a nice win.”
For the Golden Eagles (11-1), it seemed like they started the game a tad on the nervous side. They had trouble connecting on early opportunities and were a little sloppy when it came to controlling the ball.
It may have something to do with the fact that they have never beaten the Raiders in program history. But a loss to a tough team may be just what they need heading into the Class 5A state playoffs.
“We need to get pushed,” coach Jamie Munro said. “We’ve been a victim of a bad schedule every year. Our conference is kind of a new conference. We have a couple of really good teams in it, and then a lot of games that aren’t that hard. We needed a kick in the butt.”
The Raiders took a 3-2 lead into halftime but scored less than four minutes into the third quarter to increase the lead to two goals.
Jake Govett scored his second goal of the game for Mountain Vista toward the end of the third to cut the lead to one before Evan Place and Colin Munro each found the net in a span of 32 seconds to take a 5-4 lead.
Paxton Boyer had been a wall for the Golden Eagles throughout the game, but the Raiders were able find the net three times in the fourth quarter.
“We couldn’t finish our shots early in the game and then (Reed) got (the eventual game-winner) and it gave us a boost of energy,” Regis attacker Joey Chott said. “(Paxton) is a great goalie, I couldn’t finish early in the game, no one could. But we found our inside shots and we found good goals.”
Chott scored twice on the day for the Raiders, including the team’s seventh goal to make it a two-goal lead with 1:43 left. Erickson and Babcock also scored two goals on the day.
Govett was the leading scorer for Mountain Vista with two.
The Golden Eagles play Douglas County and Palmer to wrap up league play before finishing the regular season against Arapahoe. All three games will be at Shea Stadium.
All three of Regis Jesuit’s final games are league games. They have Colorado Academy, Kent Denver and Rangeview on the slate before playoffs are scheduled to begin on May 11.
