August Johnson’s hat trick powers No. 3 Cheyenne Mountain boys lacrosse over No. 5 Conifer
COLORADO SPRINGS — Even the strongest dams can break is the current is strong enough. For Conifer boys lacrosse, the dam that was their zone defense and goaltending held for the better part of three quarters.
But once the structure was cracked, there was no containing the Cheyenne Mountain attack. The Indians scored five goals in less than seven minutes en route to a 8-2 win over the Lobos on Wednesday night.
Cheyenne Mountain, the No. 3 team in the Class 4A boys lacrosse rankings, had a tough time putting a scoring attack together, trying to figure out the zone defense that No. 5 Conifer had seemingly mastered. To make matters worse, any early shot that the Indians got off were turned away from Conifer goaltender Ryan Lindsay.
“That’s what we run (defensively),” Indians coach Mike Paige said. “That goalie, oh man is he the real deal. He’s the best one we’ve seen all year.”
The offensive chances for the Indians wouldn’t have been possible without the play of Liam Hybl in goal. The sophomore turned away shot after shot from the Lobos, giving his offense an opportunity to take an early lead.
That lead eventually came at the hands of August Johnson who took a pass from Jack Egan buried a shot from the point to put Cheyenne Mountain up 1-0 in the closing seconds of the first quarter.
“Once we started to recognize (the zone), we tried some old tricks and that seemed to work,” Johnson said. “Pretty much this year, we’re quick at adapting.”
Save for that early goal, Lindsay was putting on a show of his own in the Conifer net. The Indians took their time with each possession, trying to find a hole in the Lobos’ zone defense, a task that proved more difficult than Paige would have liked.
As Johnson, Egan and others tried to widen the gap in the score, Lindsay refused to let anything past him.
“For the better part of three quarters, our defense and our rotation was looking solid,” Conifer coach Dad Riecke said. “It was looking good.”
The Lobos finally got an offensive chance late in the first half when Nick Williams found Cole Hollander perched to the right of the Cheyenne Mountain net. Williams ripped a shot through traffic and it got by Hybl with 28 seconds remaining in the first to tie things up at a goal apiece.
That tie wouldn’t last long into the second half as Johnson scored his second of the game just 1:16 into the third quarter.
Jack Fillweber pulled the Lobos even again about four minutes later, catching the Indians in transition and connecting on a shot while falling backwards.
But Johnson would strike again. He completed his hat trick with an unassisted goal to put Cheyenne Mountain up 3-2.
As much as Paige would’ve liked to see other players get involved, he knew the circumstances forced some of that adaptation that Johnson had talked about.
“In that second half, we had to put some specialized lines out there,” Paige said. “Sometimes in a game you have to do that.”
Johnson’s third goal proved to be the momentum swing that the Indians needed. Wiley Burkett added another goal for Cheyenne Mountain with just under a minute remaining in the quarter. Kyle Elligott backed it up 20 seconds later and Jack Paul scored 30 seconds after that.
Heading into the fourth quarter, Cheyenne Mountain had broken the dam and taken a 6-2 lead. They were able to add two more goals in the fourth, while keeping the Lobos from tallying even just one more. The Indians finished the game on a 6-0 run after Conifer had tied the game a second time.
“Adversity is our biggest friend,” Johnson said. “Seeing an easy team then a hard team and always switching up is something we look forward to.”
Considering April is still over a week away, this loss doesn’t hurt the Lobos too badly. They have long-term goals and know that they’ll need to learn a bit about themselves along the way if they’re going to complete them.
“This will be one we can grow and learn from come late May,” Riecke said. “When the championship comes around on May 18, we want to be there. But it’s going to take a lot of hard work and learning from our losses.”
The Lobos are out of action until Apr. 4 as they’ll take advantage of spring break. The Indians head to California for a couple of games before heading back to Colorado to face Valor Christian.
