WESTMINSTER–Monarch boys lacrosse doesn’t know how to take it easy on its opponents.
On Wednesday night at Adams 12 North Stadium, the 11th-ranked Coyotes put on a clinic against host Mountain Range as they easily cruised to a 14-7 victory. With a fiery offense like that of Monarch, the Mustangs hardly stood a chance.
Senior attackers Andrew Frey and Braeden Wimer guided Monarch’s illustrious offense with five and three goals, respectively, as six Coyotes found the back of the net. Frey scored a hat trick before halftime.
Through just four contests into their early Season D slate, the Coyotes (3-1) already have 53 goals to their names. Their only loss came at the hands of No. 8 Fairview by a 9-5 mark. They’ve scored double digits on everybody else.
“We’ve got a lot of good power,” Frey said. “We have three senior attackmen who play really hard. We got some sophomores that are coming together. We’re going to be a good team.”
Monarch began the game pushing the Mustangs aggressively as the Coyotes took shot after shot to pressure Mountain Range goalie Blake Pfannenstiel’s resolve. Their efforts broke through at the 5:52 mark in the first quarter when, on an assist from behind the goal, sophomore midfielder Griffyn Weber flung the ball into the net.
The rest of the quarter, however, saw the Coyotes committing passing errors as penalties halted any momentum they hoped to gain on the Mustangs. They led 1-0 at the end of the first frame.
Monarch regained its composure early into the second quarter as Wimer converted for his team after a mad groundball dash near the crease. He scored again just 15 seconds later, immediately after Monarch won the faceoff.
Then the Coyote offense really went crazy.
Throughout the next four minutes, Monarch found the back of the net five more times. The most impressive score came from Frey, who snuck the ball past the goalie’s shoulder on a front fake, over-the-back shot near the crease. Mountain Range’s offense didn’t get to touch the ball much during that time frame as the Coyotes took an 8-0 advantage at the half.
Monarch took that momentum into the opening minutes of the third quarter as senior attacker Kevin McMahon added his name to the mix with another Coyote goal to go up 9-0. Mountain Range, however, started to fight back.
Mere seconds later, Mountain Range responded with a floater from 20 yards out to put the Mustangs on the board, 9-1. Then the Mustang offense really started to put on the pressure. By the end of the third frame, Mountain Range had inched back into the competition as it trailed 12-3.
Try as it might, however, it could not overcome the large lead that the Coyotes spent the first half building. Now, Monarch will look to carry its success forward when it travels to Lakewood on Friday for a 3:30 p.m. start.
“I think we just have great chemistry,” head coach David Auday said. “We’re still angry about losing a year (to COVID) like most teams. They’re getting compared to the team that didn’t play (last year), which was one of the best in the state. In this rivalry, we just came out and pressed out from the start. That’s what it was: intensity. We just punched them in the mouth right from the start.”
