The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
“We’re definitely headed in the right direction”
[ by Than Acuff ]It was one for the books, in a couple of ways. First and foremost, the Crested Butte Titans lacrosse team racked up the most wins in a season since the program started in 2021 finishing 7-9 to qualify for the 4A state tournament for the first time.
“Everyone worked together for the common goal of reaching the playoffs,” says senior captain Merrick Jeffery.
Secondly, there was the blizzard.
The Titans came into the post season as the 20th seed and faced 13th seeded Ponderosa in the first-round game on Tuesday, May 5 in an absolute blizzard. But after some plowing, some shoveling, some more shoveling and then continued shoveling, the two teams took the field.
“The conditions were some of the most brutal I’ve ever played in, but the atmosphere going into the game was electric,” says senior captain Luke Walton. “We were so excited to have made the playoffs and got even more hyped when we heard Ponderosa wanted to postpone the game. The locker room before the game was loud and we were ready for the snow.”
With volunteers shoveling to clear the lines, the two teams made the most of the situation and took the field and the hope was the snow might level the playing field between the two teams.
“We’ve played in snow before so we thought it would be an equalizer,” says head coach Carter Brock.
The Titans did appear to score in the opening quarter when Wyatt Cook was tripped but still got the ball to Walton for a goal, but it was waved off, and Ponderosa built a 5-0 lead by the end of the first quarter.
“Story of the season, we got off to a slow start,” says Brock.
The Titans did strike in the second quarter as Walton set up Cook for a goal and while Ponderosa responded, the Titans scored late in the second quarter when Bennett Crabtree fed Donovan Gagen for a strike and held Ponderosa to their lone goal and headed into halftime down 6-2.
“Even though we had a press going, we got more aggressive with it in the second quarter forcing them to move the ball around and forced more turnovers,” says Brock. “The boys were fired up. Especially when they heard Ponderosa wanted to postpone the second half to another date.”
That unadulterated excitement to get back out and battle suffered a big blow as Ponderosa scored in the opening minute of the third quarter and then scored three more times for the 10-2 win.
“Ponderosa was a pretty solid team,” says Walton. “They played a zone defense which we struggled against all season, and they had a few great shooters on offense. Regardless, it was such a fun game, and I think the whole team would say so.”
“All of our guys were having fun and all of our guys got to play and that’s what it’s all about,” adds Brock.
In the end, both Walton and Jeffery are proud of how the season turned out.
“I feel like the season was very successful,” says Jeffery. “The team really came together as a whole and it felt amazing to see the team and the program take a step into becoming a state contender.”
“Making the playoffs after only four years of having a varsity program is an amazing feeling,” adds Walton. “The past four years I have seen every flaw and accomplishment of our team and working with coaches Carter and Alex to build our team up as strong as possible has been incredible. Making the playoffs was definitely not because of one or two players, it was the entire team’s efforts over the past four years.”
Brock plans to return next season and believes they can build off what the program accomplished this season.
“Our veteran players showed up and got the job done in those must-win games and the younger guys took a lot from them, and we’ll be better from the experience of our senior leadership,” says Brock. “We’re definitely headed in the right direction.”
To continue the process, Brock and his coaching staff have plans for the summer. In addition to a car wash fundraiser and an alumni game over the Memorial Day weekend, there are plans for a lacrosse camp June 29-July 1.
