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Tigers rout Aspen with top teams looming

DEVON O'NEIL
Summit Daily/Brad Odekirk
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BRECKENRIDGE – The mountain lacrosse behemoth that has become the Summit high school boys club team was on display for the second and final time in front of the home crowd Sunday.Despite playing a game that was far from perfect, the Tigers overcame rain and a feisty Aspen team with ease, winning 15-2 and missing out on a shutout by about a minute. Summit is now 21-2 on the year, with a weekend’s worth of tests set for next Saturday and Sunday.The Tigers, who have dominated most of the other mountain club squads this spring, travel to Denver for the Colorado Jamboree where they’ll face, among others, Golden, one of the top high school varsity teams in the state.First-year Summit head coach Jay Beckerman – who was forced into officiating along with Aspen’s coaches because the referees never showed up – called Sunday’s rout a “tuneup” for the upcoming Jamboree. “Next weekend these guys are gonna find out what a real lacrosse team is,” he said. “I expect they’ll rise to the challenge.”

They certainly did on Sunday. With a 14-man bench (Aspen’s, in contrast, was only four-deep), the Tigers jumped out to a 14-0 lead before a pair of goals by the visitors in the final minute eliminated the goose egg.Attackman Braxton Campbell, a high school sophomore who will likely be Summit’s best scoring threat if the Tigers end up qualifying for varsity membership within the Colorado High School Activities Association (CHSAA) next season, scored four goals and had four assists to lead his team on Sunday.The offense ran through Campbell’s “X” position behind the net, as usual, and used his nifty moves (he scored one goal with a behind-the-back shot) and unusual patience to make things happen time and again.Jimmy Keeling, the team’s offensive leader and on-field quarterback, scored three goals of his own, to go along with two assists. Michael Dudick added one more Summit hat trick, scoring three times with a rocket overhand shot and chipping in an assist.

Tucker Shelden also impressed the solid home crowd with crafty moves, scoring twice and assisting on another goal, while Tyler Reinking, Rudi Turrin and Jeff Montepare added one goal apiece.Montepare’s goal was the play of the day; showing the same bullish toughness that had him throwing punches at an Aspen player during a fight that sent them both to the penalty box in the first half, he powered through three defenders before burying a perfectly placed high shot for Summit’s 10th goal.Summit goalie Matt Peoples gave up just two goals in the final minute, and got plenty of help from long-stickers Danny Caamaño, Brock Barto, Taylor Miller and Erik Davis, among others.Summit outshot Aspen 43-13.



After the game, all thoughts turned toward the Jamboree.”Next week will definitely be the biggest test in terms of our skill,” Campbell said. “I don’t think we’re anywhere near the Denver schools.”Still, he added: “I wanna see how good they really are. I’m kinda nervous.”Devon O’Neil can be contacted at (970) 668-4633, or at doneil@summitdaily.com.


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