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Steamboat Springs — Steamboat Springs boys lacrosse coach Bob Hiester needs only two words to describe the four games his team will play in the next week to close out its season - big time.

Steamboat begins the final stretch today with a game against Mountain Range, tentatively scheduled for 3:30 p.m., in Thornton and will follow it with a Saturday afternoon game against Evergreen in Arvada.

The Sailors then return for a rescheduled final home game, 4:30 p.m. at Gardner Field on Monday against Englewood, and will hit the road again to play another rescheduled game Thursday at Wheat Ridge to finish their varsity schedule.

Hiester hoped the Sailors - at 2-7 and currently ranked No. 36 according to www.laxpower.com - can carry momentum through the week and finish strong with their best lacrosse of the season against Wheat Ridge (6-1 and ranked No. 17), the highest-ranked opponent they will face in the stretch.

"We're fully capable of winning any and all of the games," Hiester said, hoping the many players who have been absent from the week of practice due to sickness will be ready for the games.

Players such as Alex Centner have had the Saturday rematch against Evergreen on their radar screens since last season - a game that ended in a bitter 6-5 overtime loss.

"I hate Evergreen," Centner said. "We lost by one and they tried to pick a fight with one of our guys. It was an aggressive, good battle."

Centner said the team has made necessary improvements across the board in practice, from defensive pressure and footwork to minimizing unforced turnovers, since the team's last game. On April 6, Steamboat dropped a disappointing, 12-0 shutout loss to Alexander Dawson.

"Dawson was a wake-up call," Joey Melius said, confident in his team's progress in set 6-on-6 situations, and ready to take on what he called a "beatable" Mountain Range team (1-6 and ranked No. 42).