ERIE >> Two weeks before the end of the regular season in boys lacrosse, both Erie and Monarch find themselves in an unfamiliar position: in the bottom half of playoff seeding.

The Tigers haven’t had a losing season since becoming a varsity program in 2019, and the Coyotes haven’t in more than two decades under legendary coach David Auday, but coming into Monday’s matchup, neither owned a winning record.

A strong finish is all that matters now, they say.

Erie, with a revamped roster after last spring’s Class 4A championship, went on to beat Monarch, 11-8, on Monday, halting a program-most four-game losing streak. In turn, it sent the injury-riddled Coyotes to their first four-game skid since 2018.

The Tigers (6-5, 2-4 5A League 2) got three goals apiece from senior Cooper Riley and sophomore Drake Chivukula in their first win since April 4.

Kai Simich was named by Chivukula and his coach for fueling a big third quarter that put the Tigers in control. Trailing by two, Simich scored twice in the frame and Erie scored five straight heading into the fourth, where goals 32 seconds apart from Cooper Novak and Riley finally sealed things in the waning minutes.

“After that four-game losing streak, our last two practices have been dialed-in,” Chivukula said afterward. “We came into this game with that energy.” And it showed.

The Coyotes, meanwhile, played again without a number of starters, including their seventh straight game without star midfielder Flynn Leonard, who is out for the season with a broken collarbone. Leonard had 132 goals and 58 assists in his career. Auday wouldn’t use injuries as an excuse. But the fact is his team has been without four or five starters in every game this season. And the lack of depth is hard to ignore.In Monday’s loss, the Coyotes got three goals from Thomas Roberts and led 5-3 early in the third before faltering down the stretch.

“It’s been trying,” Auday said of the season. “It’s not really from a lack of effort. But, when we were up 5-3 and got a little momentum — this is kind of a microcosm of the way our season has gone — then boom, we let them score (five) straight goals. That’s what’s been happening. It ebbs and it flows, but then we let teams get the upper hand. And just the depth we have right now, we’re not able to come back.”

Going into Tuesday, all four teams from the Boulder Valley and St. Vrain Valley school districts were still inside the 5A 24-team playoff picture.

Fairview (8-3, 4-2) won five straight before falling to Lakewood 11-5 on Monday.

The Knights went from seventh to eighth in the CHSAA standings.

Meanwhile, No. 21 Boulder (8-4, 4-1 5A League 1) is in position to end a postseason drought that goes back to 2010.

The Panthers, led by Luke Nathan’s 32 goals and 24 assists, can win their league with wins over No. 16 Northfield (7-4, 5-0) on Wednesday and No. 15 Lewis-Palmer (7-4, 2-1) on Friday.

Erie, in its first year in 5A, is 18th.

The Tigers are home against the Knights on Wednesday.

Monarch fell to 23rd. It finishes its season against the top two teams in its league — No. 4 Ralston Valley (10-1, 5-0) on Wednesday and No. 14 Lakewood (7-5, 4-1) on May 2.