The sport of lacrosse has been gaining steam recently in the United States. Colorado is no exception. Rocky Mountain High School is one of many schools in the state of Colorado to implement a lacrosse program.

Lacrosse, also known as LAX, is a high speed game that takes an immense amount of skill. Athletes run around on a field wearing pads on their upper body to protect them from hits. Something that makes this sport unique and difficult is the fact that athletes must run, pass, and shoot with a lacrosse stick.

These sticks vary in shape and size based on position. Goalies have a stick with a larger net at the end, while defenders have long sticks and attackers have shorter sticks with smaller nets. Each stick gives players different advantages in their respective positions.

The goal of LAX is similar to that of soccer, score more goals than the other team. In high school, the game is split into four twelve-minute quarters. Each quarter is started by a face off with two opposing players.

After the agressive face off takes place, the game begins with lots of running, passing, and hitting. Players are allowed to hit other players with their bodies and sticks.

“Hits to the legs are illegal, but are rarely called as a penalty,” said Brennan Higgins, a senior on Rocky’s LAX team.

On Wednesday, April 25th, Rocky Mountain High School played Boulder High School for their senior night game. This games celebrates the 14 seniors on the PSD combined team, many of whom are continuing to play in college.

This game was a challenge and some seniors weren’t expecting much playing time. However, the Lobos came out strong in the first half gaining a significant lead and causing many of the seniors who don’t normally start to get a higher amount of playing time.

This was an amazing opportunity for the program to really give credit to the seniors who come to every practice and help make the team better.

Several players scored, but Tate Martinez scored the most for the night, with a total of five goals throughout the game. Not only did he have the most goals of the game, but he was also the leading scorer on the team in the 2018 season.

The Lobo’s performance  led to an impressive win over Boulder with the final score being 17-7. This is an above average score for a LAX game according to many of the excited athletes after the game.

Not only was this game fun and exciting for the players, but the students who came out had a fun time supporting their friends on the field.

“Lacrosse is a sport that I don’t know a lot about, but it is always fun to come out and watch, especially when our boys do so well,” said Nic Chelales, a senior at Rocky Mountain High School.

Lacrosse is one of the fastest growing team sports in the country and will continue to gain the support of athletes and fans as new programs help further the sport’s development.

All photos by Zach Campbell.