No. 7 Golden boys lacrosse back on track with win over Littleton
ARVADA — A tough triple-overtime loss last week made it an uphill climb for Golden boys lacrosse to claim the Class 4A Foothills League title.
However, the Demons — No. 7 in the latest CHSAANow.com 4A boys lacrosse rankings — showed Wednesday night they aren’t going to let the setback against No. 4 Green Mountain keep Golden from finishing strong in conference play.
“I think we kind of cleaned the slate,” Golden defenseman Ben Brock said after the Demons’ 12-5 victory Wednesday over Littleton at the North Area Athletic Complex. “That stuff is in the past and we just have to move forward.”
The loss to Green Mountain (8-1, 2-0 in 4A Foothills) last Friday night put the Rams in position to win their first ever conference title in boys lacrosse. Green Mountain has league games remaining against Evergreen, Conifer and Littleton.
“We are definitely Evergreen fans tonight,” said Golden coach Mike Thumim, who was planning on heading up to Trailblazer Stadium to take in the 7:30 p.m. game between Evergreen and Green Mountain. “If they can beat Green Mountain and we beat Evergreen it would be a three-way tie and we’ll go from there.”
Thumim admits the loss to Green Mountain still stings.
“It still kind of lingers,” Thumim said. “(Green Mountain goalie Ryan Burdi) probably had the greatest high school goalie performance I’ve ever seen in 21 years. He had 20 saves.”
Golden found the back of the net plenty of times against Littleton in the first game of the doubleheader at NAAC. Ben Kirschner was a scoring machine for the Demons. The sophomore attacker scored five goals, including three straight from the end of the second quarter until late in the third quarter as Golden extended its lead to 9-2.
“He (Kirschner) finally broke out. He is a good kid and works hard,” Thumim said. “I call him bacon because bacon makes everything better.”
Golden sophomore goalie Kyle desGarennes was solid in net for the Demons. Littleton (6-6, 2-1) came into the game undefeated in league play, but still has to face the likes of Evergreen and Green Mountain.
Golden (7-6, 2-1) finishes off its conference schedule against Evergreen and Conifer over the next week. The Demons did sit No. 7 in the RPI standings before Wednesday’s win over Littleton, so a playoff berth really isn’t in question for Golden.
“We’ve been so up and down this year, we are just trying to put together a little winning streak. Any win at this point is something we’ll take,” Thumim said. “We still talk about Cheyenne Mountain last year coming in to the state tournament as the No. 7 seed and winning it all.”
Still, Golden would like to get its hands on a conference title before starting its playoff run.
“It kind of takes a toll on you to scoreboard watch,” Brock said. “Hopefully we can still get that league championship.”
