ALL players from the Championship game gather for a photo including Los Alamos Hilltoppers, Pueblo Heroes and Duke City Bears. Courtesy/by Megan Parton and Mike Hargather
K Parton eyes Komathy for a quick pass while under heavy pressure from the Santa Fe defense. Courtesy/Megan Parton and Mike Hargather
SPORTS News:
In the final April weekend at the Santa Fe youth lacrosse Jamboree, the U10 Hilltoppers played four intense games, three against previously unmet opponents, but also battled a fifth unforeseen yet just as challenging foe, the northern New Mexico wind in the spring.
The Saturday noon tournament opener turned into a bit of a wake-up call for the previously undefeated U10 Toppers, when the tide began to turn in the second half against the clearly skilled and sizeable Pueblo Heroes. After two fast-paced quarters the Toppers were leading at half time with first time goalie Devlin Rosenow able to fend off multiple slingers with the help of a stacked defense featuring David Hargather and Rhys Rosenow, who recently came off the injured reserve.
With crisp rotations of pairs from Middie to Attack and then to Defense, the boys completely handled the out-sized opponents while keeping their heads in the game and fully swiveling. At one point, a speedy pass from Ronan Parton to Hargather from behind the cage resulted in a mid-air delivered goal barely detected by the Hero goalie. As quarter three progressed to four, the Heroes sunk three unanswered goals, potentially overwhelming the first-time goalie after the intense roughly 10 minutes of pre-game goalie training.
After the traditional post-game congratulatory high-five/fist bumps, the team chillaxed out of the wind, enjoyed the classic combo of team-family provided sports drinks, salty, flavored crunchy snacks or concessions from the well-stocked counter serviced by friendly Santa Fe volunteers while mentally preparing for their next game against the Duke City Bears. Your U10 Hilltoppers ended Saturday 1-1, 5-7 vs. the Pueblo Heroes and 7-4 vs the Duke City Bears.
Sunday featured two new teams, Santa Fe and Salida, with a 3rd game championship between the top two teams to wrap up the day. The team came out with their sticks on fire, leading Salida by nearly double digits as the 3rd quarter began to wane. To maintain appropriate sportsmanship the team was first directed to complete 3 successful passes before shooting and when that hurdle was quickly crossed, a 5-pass mandate was instituted by the Topper coaches. Eventually we halted scoring attempts except for the newest teammates, to focus on game passing strategy. Game 3 ended with the Toppers on top 11-1. Game 4 against Santa Fe was a bit of scoring strategy card-flip, in that due to short headcount, a U12 goalie joined the Santa Fe team to allow for a single player for substitutions, exactly matching Los Alamos. The upper-level Santa Fe goalie barely stood a chance against fierce passing between the Korbin brothers, Hargather, Martinez and Rhys Rosenow, as well as strong lacrosse IQ performances by Devlin Rosenow, Komathy, Cardon and Richardson. This enjoyable romp ended with a final score of 11-2.
With only one loss, the Toppers were positioned to compete in the Championship against the Pueblo Heroes in Sunday’s final matchup. After nearly two days of incessant wind, the fourth-place team decided to head for the hills leaving the Duke City Bears available for a Stick Pick augmentation of the first and second place teams. Not to miss an opportunity to develop the athletes, the coaches decided to split third place Bears evenly between the Toppers and Heroes, allowing for the first time, sizeable substitution benches. With fresh legs, time to rest and a grit not yet displayed this season, the Toppers came out ready to battle until the wicked end. Second year goalie Elijah Martinez was brought back into the cage to ensure his experience and grit would give the Toppers a fighting chance. Both teams were enhanced by the skilled Duke City coaches and formidable pairs were formed on Defense and Attack, while the Middies were rotated rapidly to utilize our speed advantage and minimize our slight size deficit.
Yet, when first year Korbin Parton received an aggressive box out from a Pueblo Hero, easily double Korbin’s weight, Parton, without hesitation, returned the favor causing that particular Hero to second guess his preconceived notions of our smaller U10 Toppers. As the second half begun and the Toppers with a slight lead, first year Steven Richardson, who was battling the physiological challenges associated with a fifth game under sunny, windy skies, made a special request of the team as the 3 rd quarter ended with a near-tied game.
Richardson’s cousin happened to be in from out of town and had never seen a lacrosse game in his eventful life. There was nothing more that Steven wanted to do than to score a goal for his amazing cousin, who had traveled from afar. With minutes on the clock and a strong Hero defensive positioning, Steven was able to receive an on-pointe pass from Komathy and somehow snipe one in past the cage-filling Pueblo Hero goalie. The crowd went wild as the clock struck 10 minutes resulting in a nail-biting 9-8 Final win for the Toppers. Aside from receiving amazing tournament technical t-shirts, free pizza and more kite weather than one could want, the team left the Santa Fe rugby pitch with their heads high ready to represent LAYLAX at the Laxo de Mayo tournament in beautiful Salida, CO.
Game schedules and information can be found here. If you’re ready to cheer on the U10, U14 and girls Hilltoppers as they re-battle teams from this past weekend, prepare mentally for the lightning fast and often error-free West Elk Lacrosse team. Only three weeks left to the 2025 LAYLAX Youth Lacrosse season, don’t miss it!
Steven Richardson snipes in the game winner, for his cousin, amid swarming Hero Defense. Photo by Megan Parton and Mike Hargather
Parton snipes one past a U12 goalie during game 4 vs Santa Fe. Photo by Megan Parton and Mike Hargather