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Steamboat Springs — Two teams, two different halves.

After the Steamboat Springs lacrosse team dominated play for the first 24 minutes Saturday at Gardner Field, Fort Collins quickly turned the tables during the last 24.

The result was a 12-4 loss for Steamboat with thoughts of what could have been.

The two teams headed to halftime tied at 3 after outshooting the Vipers, 18-7, in the first half. Steamboat even held a 3-0 lead with 3 minutes, 46 seconds left in the first quarter.

But in the second half, Fort Collins showed why it's regarded as a top-10 team in the state. The Vipers took advantage of several Sailors penalties and outscored Steamboat, 6-1, in the third quarter to take a 9-4 lead.

"No question about it. The first half is the way we should play," Steamboat coach Bob Hiester said. "We were doing things really well. Then we started reaching instead of bodying."

Any chance Steamboat had to come back in the fourth quarter ended when they couldn't convert on two extra-man opportunities.

"I don't know what happened in the second half, I guess the fire just died," said senior Joey Melius. "I think once something bad happens, we start to spiral a little."

Early on, Steamboat looked like it might pull off the upset. Just a minute and a half into the game, Sailors junior Kevin Bertrand beat his man twice to give Steamboat a 2-0 lead.

Then with 3:46 left in the first quarter, Bertrand found Chase Grippa in front. Grippa fumbled the ball before regaining possession and fired a shot past the Vipers goalie for a 3-0 lead.

Fort Collins scored the next three goals to tie the score at 3. Steamboat had several chances to regain the lead - the best coming when Bryce Peters' shot hit the post with 1:32 left in the half - but couldn't capitalize.

"We played magnificent in first half," Melius said. "But for some reason, maybe we get cocky or maybe we get lazy, but things go bad and we start to spiral."

Steamboat next plays in the Border Wars Tournament on Thursday in Grand Junction.