The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
“I was proud of the kids, they put in a lot of work”
By Than Acuff
The Crested Butte Titans lacrosse team brought the season to a close on the road last weekend falling to Middle Park on Friday, May 3 before taking down Denver North on Saturday, May 4. The Titans finished the season 6-9 overall and 4-6 in league play, a league that sent two teams to the 4A state tournament.
Middle Park was going to be a tough game and the Titans needed to put their best foot forward if they wanted to pull off an upset but were confident heading into the game.
“Since we battled them in a close game last year, we knew we had a chance at another close game,” says coach Carter Brock.
Middle Park jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but Crested Butte tied it up 2-2 on goals from Jack Pierson before Middle Park closed the first half with three more goals for a 5-2 lead at halftime.
“We were playing well at the start, but we were a little slow,” says senior captain Ty Pulliam.
“We were feeling confident in that first half of the game,” adds Brock.
But Middle Park had some skin in the game as a win would improve their seed at the state tournament and they came out in the second half on a mission scoring five goals while holding the Titans scoreless for the 10-2 win.
“They were playing dirty and the calls weren’t going our way, so our morale went down,” says Pulliam.
“The guys played great and were getting good looks but their goalie made some great saves,” says Brock.
The Titans remained on the road heading to the Front Range to face Denver North for their final game of the season and the last game for the 10 Titan seniors. The Titans had a sense they would walk away from the game with a win and their top players made sure of it as they opened a big lead in the first half and cruised to a 16-8 win.
Luke Walton led the way with six goals in the game, Pierson scored four and Riley Davis had three goals and four assists.
“The typical guys stepped it up in that game,” says Brock. “All of them came out and played some of their best lacrosse of the season.”
“It was a very fun way to end the season,” adds Pulliam.
While the Titans fell short of reaching the post season, they continued to improve as individuals and as a team with the seniors leading the way.
“I was proud of the kids, they put in a lot of work,” says Brock. For our first year as the new coaching staff, we got a lot more out of the kids than we expected.”
“Our season was good,” says Pulliam. “I wish we could’ve made it to the playoffs but I’m just happy I got to play.”
Brock hopes to return as the head coach again next year and has plans for more work with the players over the summer and, despite losing 10 seniors to graduation, believes he’s got a great mix of underclassmen to continue as team leaders and step into bigger roles on the team.
“I look forward to coming back if they’ll have me, it’s been fun,” says Brock. “The kids are all pumped for the opportunity to play like their older teammates.”
