Senior attackman Nick Hillier scored five goals and had one assist, and junior attack Mitch Nelson had three goals and three assists to lead Mountain Vista to a 15-12 victory over Denver East in a Colorado High School Activities Association game Tuesday night.

Sophomore middie Christian Thomas added two goals and won 16-of-21 face-offs, and junior middie Dan Zamora had one goal and one assist for the Golden Eagles, who evened their record at 2-2.

“Offensively, we looked pretty good – when we’re unselfish, we’re very, very good,” Mountain Vista head coach Jose Trujillo said. “Defensively, we’re young and inexperienced, but we’re learning game by game.”

Mountain Vista jumped to an early 4-0 lead and held a 7-4 advantage at halftime. Denver East caught the Golden Eagles at 9-9 and 10-10, but Mountain Vista pulled away in the end.

Denver East, which is playing without injured Bellarmine-bound senior middie Grant Beczkalo, fell to 0-3. Junior attackman Eric Ouellette, who had been playing hockey, had a game-high 12 points on seven goals and five assists in his first game of the season.

“He was a monster tonight,” Denver East coach Jon Barocas said.

Mountain Vista had lost two of its first three games, including a 16-4 setback to Mullen last Friday. 

“We’re just so inexperienced,” Trujillo said. “We need practice and playing time....I think by the end of the year, we might be able to sneak up on someone. But right now, we’re just trying to learn each other.”