Mason Geller stuffs the stat sheet as Vail Mountain boys lacrosse defeats Middle Park

Mason Geller doesn’t have too many chances left to accumulate stats wearing a blue and white jersey. On Saturday, the three-sport star decided to really fill up the stat sheet.

The Gore Ranger senior poured home his team’s first five goals, then added five more as the Vail Mountain School boys lacrosse team claimed a 16-7 win over Middle Park on a sunny, pleasant afternoon in Vail.

“He’s a big target out there,” said head coach Stephen Michel. “He’s going to draw people, and he was patient and kind of let the game come to him. We had guys looking for him and he was just really good in transition and finishing his shots.”

“After my first one, I was like, they don’t slide, so I just kept dodging and dodging and it kept working out,” said Geller, who added four assists in the win, pushing VMS to 8-3 on the season.

“The offense was just clicking and the defense was clicking.”

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In its first year of varsity lacrosse, Middle Park didn’t betray any sense of youthful intimidation early on, matching Geller’s scoring barrage to end the first quarter with the score 4-3.

“They were getting every ground ball. It was kind of a continuation of Steamboat where we were getting bullied,” Michel said, referring to his team’s 9-6 loss on Thursday. Geller and Michel both admitted the squad seemed to still be on spring break in that matchup with the current 4A Western Slope league leaders.

“We just weren’t there,” Michel said. “They beat us fair and square and they’re a really well coached team, but they wanted it more than us, frankly.”

“It took a little bit to wake up,” Geller added. “And then second quarter the defense just shut out.”

Spencer Hurd’s defensive play proved critical, according to Michel. “He got his opportunity today and played the best he’s played,” the coach said. “He stepped up.”

Connor Wadey also rose to the occasion, taking his hand at some first-half face-offs to help Geller and Max Vidal instigate a game-changing 6-0 run.

“It’s great having Jay (McCormack) and Connor because they kind of play off each other. They have a little bit different styles,” Michel said. “So, it wasn’t working for Jay initially, and Connor was able to come out and win the face offs.”

McCormack would return to his spot at the center circle and closed out the half with his own off a Geller pass to make it 9-3.

“He’s won 75% of his face offs this year, which is outstanding,” Michel said of the junior. “He should be an all-league specialist.”

Geller’s score off his trademark wrap-around move from behind the net early in the third made it 10-3 before Ryan Bole finally put Middle Park on the board again with a goal about three minutes in. Geller would score twice more, Vidal added his third goal of the game off a behind-the-back fast break — again getting a nifty dish from Geller — and Erik Jaerbyn scored his second goal as the Gore Rangers finished off the Panthers (who came into the match with a 7-3 overall record themselves) easily.

With the post-season approaching, Vail Mountain is hoping to ride the momentum from Saturday into Tuesday’s pivotal home matchup with Aspen, who shares their 7-3 league record. Having beaten Steamboat Springs (11-2 overall, 9-1 league) 10-9 on April 11, a win against the Skiers next week would mean VMS has defeated every league foe at least once this year.

“That’s a big game for us at this point,” Michel said. “It’s a rivalry.”

When asked what his emotions were in his second-to-last regular season home game, Geller said he’s not trying to overthink it but is taking things one day at a time.

“I realized it’s my last season here at VMS, and I might try to walk on and play in college, so I mean I’m just trying to take it all in and enjoy every moment,” he said. “I am going to miss this but I don’t want to regret anything.”