No. 5 Columbine girls lacrosse continues to roll in Jeffco League

LAKEWOOD — Columbine’s girls lacrosse team went dashing through the snow Saturday afternoon for its sixth straight victory and fifth consecutive win in Jeffco League play.

The Rebels, ranked No. 5 in the latest CHSAANow.com girls lacrosse poll, took a 19-4 victory over Green Mountain on a snowy Trailblazer Stadium. The artificial turf field was clear after being plowed off before the first game of a Saturday girls lacrosse doubleheader.

Columbine sophomore Aliyah Weant, left, has the ball knocked loose by Green Mountain junior Rachel Bales. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics

“It’s always nice to play on a nice snowy day,” Columbine coach Sonorah Hunter could said with a smile.

Columbine (10-2, 5-0 in league) jumped out to an 11-2 lead at halftime. Four different Rebels — juniors Whitney Block, Emma Maxwell and Madison Hadden, along with senior Maeve Hungerford — scored for Columbine in the opening 10 minutes to get the Rebels going.

The Rebels finished with six players finishing with multiple-goal games. Hungerford and junior Alea Tolley had four goals each. Block and sophomore Aliyah Weant had three goals each. Maxwell and senior Angela Naughton had a pair of goals each.

“It was a little cold, but we toughed it out. It definitely got warmer as the game went on,” Block said. “I think we played well.”

Columbine senior Annie Van Norstrand picked up the victory in goal for the Rebels.

The victory finished off a nice week for the Rebels. Columbine defeated rival Dakota Ridge 18-7 on Thursday night. The Eagles (5-5, 2-1) are just outside the top-10 in the CHSAANow.com rankings.

Columbine junior Alea Tooley (29) and Green Mountain freshman KC Ossello battle on a face-off. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics

“We got a really good win on Thursday against Dakota. I think that was our biggest threat in league,” Block said of the Rebels’ win over Dakota Ridge. “So far we just got to keep pushing, getting the wins and win that league title.”

Columbine is attempting to win back-to-back conference title and claim the league title in Jeffco for the third time in four years. The Rebels close out conference play next week against Bear Creek (2-7, 0-5) and Chatfield (7-4, 4-0).

“The girls have been working incredibly hard. I think we’ve been taking it game-by-game,” Hunter said. “We are really focused on us as a team and how we can get better.”

The lone setbacks for the Rebels this season was an overtime loss to No. 3 Denver East and 20-8 loss to No. 1 Cherry Creek. Both of those games were more than a month ago before spring break.

“Our defense is the biggest thing we have to work on going into playoffs,” Block said. “I think our defense is really picking it up.”

Green Mountain (6-5, 1-4) was coming off a nice non-league victory over Steamboat Springs, but just couldn’t generation enough offense to knock off Columbine.

Senior Samantha Day and freshman KC Ossello scored for the Rams in the first half against the Rebels. Senior Sara Haefele, who is over the 30-goal mark this season, put in a pair of goals for Green Mountain in the second half.

The Rams will attempt to bounce back in a non-league road game at Denver North on Monday, April 23.