AURORA — Rivalries really do mean something, so when the Regis boys lacrosse team bolted to a six-goal lead Friday night, only a newcomer might have figured the second-ranked Raiders had it won.

Mullen, though, would like nothing better than to beat its Jesuit brethren. The fourth-ranked Mustangs kept Regis and its home fans on edge with a quick flurry of second-half goals from Jonas Kurronen. Regis’ C.J. Schmidt responded and revived the Raiders for a 9-3 victory.

Schmidt, a junior midfielder, finished with four goals, tops among all players.

“It really was a team win – good offense, good defense,” Schmidt said. “Our defense did well. There were a ton of takeaways.”

As it turned out, Regis (7-3) scored enough goals (six) in the first quarter to win the game.

“That first period was the best we’ve played all season,” Raiders coach Jim Soran said. “Good ball movement, good scoring opportunities.”

The Raiders did produce superior passing, with Luke Strode anchoring the team from behind the Mullen net. Strode had a goal and assist in that opening surge, while both Schmidt and Greyson Konkel scored twice.

Regis’s offensive control was so complete that goalie Troy Orzech could have taken a siesta in the opening frame, although he did show off his all-state skills later on. Defender Marcus Alley also broke up a few Mustang attacks.

Mullen did recover to play an even-up game in the second period and then picked the Raiders apart for much of the second half. Kurronen scored three consecutive goals to make it a more interesting 6-3 game with about 9 minutes remaining.

“To be honest, I think we were a little intimidated by them,” Kurronen said of Mullen’s early performance. “Then we realized we could play with them and made some changes in strategy, played better defense.”

Kurronen’s first goal was aided by a pass from Erik Smith and he made two other charges down the middle of the field for two more. The last two scores came only 23 seconds apart and Kurronen registered his hat trick in a mere 8 minutes and 38 seconds.

Those goals left Soran impressed with Kurronen.

“He’s a very strong shooter that has great balance, so he’s tough to defend,” Soran said.

Schmidt stopped the bleeding with an open-net goal in the fourth quarter, picking up a botched through pass from perhaps 20 yards out and casually tossing in for a score. He picked up his fourth with the last score of the game, slinging an underhanded shot past Mullen goalie James Standley.

“I just kind of backed in on that one,” Schmidt said. “We got kind of out of sync in the second half, but hopefully this gives us some momentum.”

Kurronen also is looking on the bright side, the vastly improved play on both offense and defense the Mustangs displayed after that first-period disaster.

“We’ll come back to practice and work on some things and be ready for the next one,” Kurronen said.

Mullen 0 0 1 2 -- 3

Regis 6 0 0 3 -- 9

Goals-Assists – M, Jonas Kurronen 3-0, Erik Smith 0-1. R, C.J. Schmidt 4-0, Luke Strode 2-1, Greyson Konkel 2-0, Ross Hardin 1-0.

Shots – M,; 6-5-3-5 19; R, 8-6-6-8 28. Saves – M, James Standley 9; R, Troy Orzech 5.