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Summit boys lacrosse falls to Montrose as team continues to search for first win of the season

Owen Moore cradles the ball during Summits home game against Vail Mountain on March 18. The Tigers ended up losing 15-5.
Elaine Collins/Courtesy photo

The conditions for a lacrosse game couldn’t have been better as the warm spring sun shined down on the Summit Tigers’ home match against the Montrose Indians on Saturday, March 26.

The Tigers went into the match with four losses, still searching for the team’s first win of the season after losing in overtime to Rangeview the night before, 10-9.

The Tigers got off to a monumental start against the visiting Indians. The team not only won the first faceoff of the game – it also drove the ball down the field to have a handful of good looks at the net.



Out of the flurry of shots on net, it was sophomore Stanley Buzek who scored the first Tigers goal a mere 55 seconds into the game, putting Summit up 1-0.

Montrose was quick with its response, however. It wasn’t long before a ball found its way past Jac Crowe in goal to even the score at 1-1.



The Tigers reacted to the blow from the Indians by mounting several good offensive opportunities, which lasted several minutes. The offensive pressure by the Tigers resulted in a second goal from Buzek in the first quarter as he rocketed another shot past the Indians goaltender.

The Indians evened the score quickly and minutes later scored again to put the Indians up 3-2 in the latter part of the opening quarter.

Summit ended the quarter by tying the game at three goals a piece after Owen Moore scored a goal while being pushed to the ground by a Montrose defensemen.

In the second quarter, the Tigers experienced a bit of a lull as the Indians scored two straight goals to open up a 5-3 lead.

The two unanswered goals caused Summit to tighten up the team’s defense which led to several back-and-forth possessions between the two teams.

Eventually, a Montrose offensemen broke the Tigers’ defensive line to rip a shot past Crowe, extening the Indians’ lead, 6-3.

The Indians kept up the pressure by continuing to score goals and preventing any substantial offensive possessions for the Tigers. At the end of the first half the Indians led 8-3.

“We let our senior captains motivate the team,” Tigers head coach Matty Marks said of what was talked about at halftime. “It was more like a wake up thing. This is a team we should be able to compete with.”

The pep talk from the senior captains must have worked since Summit came out of halftime with newfound energy.

Thomas Veeneman scored seconds into the third quarter by picking up a loose ball and driving to the goal, letting loose a fiery shot which found its way past the Indians goalie.

Veeneman’s goal brought the score to 8-4 with ample time left in the second half.

Minutes later, Moore got his second goal of the game, executing on a close-range shot and bringing the deficit within three goals.

Montrose responded to Moore’s goal with an influx of aggressive plays that netted another goal. The goal by the Indians brought the score to 9-5 with less than 10 minutes remaining in the third quarter.

To conclude the third quarter, Moore scored his third goal of the game. Tigers prepared for the final quarter of play trailing 10-6.

In the fourth, Montrose was focused to close out the game for good and only let 51 seconds tick off the clock before making it 11-6.

Summit tried to find a way back into the game but fell short due to fatigue and injuries to major key players. Montrose continued to play tough by dominating the possession of the ball and disrupting the Summit offense.

The Indians defeated the Tigers 12-7, Summit’s fifth loss of the season.

The Tigers will rest up over the weekend before taking on Steamboat Springs at home on Wednesday, March 30.

“For us it’s a matter of coming together and playing four quarters of lacrosse,” Marks said. “There’s moments where we play really well and moments where we look like we don’t know what we are doing. We just need to get everyone on the same page.”


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