The climb to a perfect season was literally in play on Wednesday in Reno.
Battling the North Reno Outlaws and an uphill slope at Billinghurst Middle School, the Oasis Bighorns under-15 lacrosse team came out with a 12-7 win.
Oasis clinched its first-ever High Sierra Lacrosse League title as the Bighorns improved to 9-0. The club aims for the tournament title as the No. 1 seed on Saturday at the league tournament at North Tahoe High School.
Working up the incline on Wednesday, attackman Trey Rooks got the Bighorns on the board with a sharp angle goal, then the floodgates opened for the Bighorns midfield.
Josh Carter scored twice along with goals from Tristan Rodarte and Trent Thorn. Carter’s second goal came with two Bighorns players serving penalties, leaving him the sole midfielder in play.
Rooks completed his hat trick before Rodarte and Thorn each added another goal. Rooks, though, then added to the show with another pair of goals, bringing his total for the night to five.
Attackman Nick Delgado put one home in the late minutes of the game to round out the Bighorns scoring.
At the other end, it was defenseman Mason Lofthouse’s turn to put on a clinic. He repeatedly intercepted good passes to start the counterattack. He used his speed to transition the ball to the attack for numerous scoring opportunities.
The U13 Bighorns, meanwhile, started strong but eventually fell 10-5 to the Outlaws.
Oasis fell behind early and never seemed to get in sync for the first half. Midfielder Nico Hofheins scored to get the Bighorns on the board, but North Reno took a 4-1 lead.
In the second half, the Bighorns offense started to click and got goals off some brilliant passing. Seth Dunkin scored two on the night and Hofheins added another. In the end, though, the comeback fell short.
All three Bighorns teams go on to the High Sierra Lacrosse League Championship Tournament on Saturday at North Tahoe High School.
Information provided by John Keitz.