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Steamboat Springs — It didn't take the Steamboat Springs High School boys lacrosse team long to show it was in a different state of mind, one day after a crippling loss to Wheat Ridge.

The Sailors, facing off Saturday morning against Mountain Range High School, likely saw their playoff dreams dealt a deathblow with Friday's loss but came out ready to fight for the program's best-ever record and a .500 season.

Aggressive, consistent and dominating from the start, a .500 season is exactly what they gave themselves a chance at by handling the Mustangs for a 9-4 win on Senior Day.

"I'm real pleased," Steamboat coach Bob Hiester said. "It was a complete game on both ends of the field, offense and defense. That's what we've done all year - when we lose a ball game, we come back and play hard. I would have been surprised if we hadn't."

The game had just the fast start Steamboat desperately needed. The Sailors fell behind Wheat Ridge 4-0 in a game played less than 24 hours earlier, then applied a similar beating to Mountain Range, throwing in two goals in the first 90 seconds and making it 3-0 before the end of the first quarter.

Tyler Samlowski took the ball at the top of the box after Steamboat's initial drive was rebuffed. He wasn't to be stopped, plowing headlong through a pair of Mustang defenders before unleashing a strong shot into the back of the net.

Junior Gus Worden added his own score less than 30 seconds later, fighting toward, then past, the goal from behind. He flew five yards beyond the net on the left side before turning back and launching a fadeaway shot to score.

Chase Grippa added Steamboat's third goal at the 2:03 mark of the first quarter, knocking it in after members from both teams dived for a groundball in front of the net.

"We were passing a lot better and we ran our offense better," Worden said. Friday, "they got four quick goals on us, so we wanted to come out strong and put on a show for Senior Day."

It wasn't an entirely easy ride to a 6-7 record for the Sailors. Steamboat added another quick goal in the second quarter for a 4-0 lead, but the team's aggression waned, and Mountain Range rallied.

The Mustangs scored their first goal at the 9:05 mark. Steamboat answered with great ball movement and an Alex Palaniuk score. Senior goalie Scot Forney played well throughout, but Mountain Range blew two more shots into the net to close the gap to two goals.

Steamboat's Kevin Bertrand finally helped stop the momentum with a goal inside the final minute of the half.

Steamboat wasn't about to give the game away, however. The Sailors controlled the second half, thoroughly outshooting Mountain Range in the final 24 minutes. Worden added a second goal to go along with three assists, and Steamboat broke the game open with two more goals in the final two quarters. The Sailors got off 13 shots compared to just three for the Mustangs.

"We ran our offense and we ran it well," Hiester said. "We had some nice openings, and we maintained possession. We got right back after it."

The team's final game of the regular season comes at 4 p.m. Tuesday when it travels to play Battle Mountain. A win would secure the program's best regular season finish at 7-7.

"It's a little disappointing because we should have won some other games, but it'd be nice to have the best record ever in Steamboat," Worden said.

- To reach Joel Reichenberger, call 871-4253 or e-mail jreichenberger@steamboatpilot.com