Field hockey semifinals: Colorado Academy and Regis Jesuit advance to the championship
Colorado Academy will take on Regis Jesuit for the state field hockey championship on Tuesday.
The top-seeded Mustangs, now 17-0-0, beat No. 4 Kent Denver 1-0 in the first semifinal on Monday at All-City Stadium. Then, in the late game, No. 2 Regis Jesuit beat No. 3 Cherry Creek in double overtime, 1-0.
The two teams will play on Tuesday at All-City. The game is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.
(1) Colorado Academy 1, (4) Kent Denver 0
The Mustangs put an end to a scoreless affair midway through the first half, and then held off all kinds of scoring chances from Kent Denver to advance.
Kent Denver had most of the pressure early in the first half, with a number of penalty corners and shots on goal, but it was Colorado Academy which struck first.
When the Mustangs finally got some sustained pressure on Kent Denver’s side of the field, it led to two penalty corners. On the second, Anderson Dodge, a senior, scored from the left side after her shot deflected off a defender and found the top right corner.
That goal came with 12:21 to play in the half.
Things stayed that way through halftime, and into the second half. Once again, Kent Denver continued to put pressure in the offensive zone, and had a number of corners, but nothing found the goal.
The Sun Devils had a great chance with 15:21 to play, off another penalty corner, but Colorado Academy goalie Madeline Gordon make a good save to preserve the shutout.
With about nine minutes to play, Kent Denver’s Camille Marsh made a great individual run and had a chance in close with a defender closely trailing her, only to watch her shot just missed to the left.
Kent had another great chance with 6:48 to go, when a loose ball following a corner squirted free to the left of the goal. But a shot attempt was just wide.
Ultimately, Colorado Academy was able to hold on and advance.
It is Colorado Academy’s first appearance in a title game since 2015, which was the last of the program’s four-consecutive state championships. The Mustangs will be making their 12th championship game appearance.
(2) Regis Jesuit 1, (3) Cherry Creek 0 (2 OT)
Regis Jesuit’s Zoey Dale scored on a give-and-go just 1:16 into the second overtime to lift the Raiders to a second-straight appearance in the title game.
The tightly-contested game, which was a rematch of last year’s state title contest, saw a couple of good chances by both teams during regulation.
Cherry Creek had a chance in close less than four minutes into the game following a penalty corner, but just missed on a shot towards an open goal. Another chance off a corner from the Bruins with six minutes remaining in the half hit the right post.
The most prominent scoring chance came with 10.7 seconds remaining in the half, when Regis Jesuit’s Zoey Dale appeared to have scored, but the goal was disallowed because the ball did not come out of the circle prior to the shot on a penalty corner.
Then, with 9:32 remaining in the second half, Regis Jesuit’s Cate Lord broke in alone on the goal, but Cherry Creek’s Tallulah Fuhs sprinted third yards to catch up with her and push the ball away at the last moment before a shot attempt.
The teams — who played on Sept. 18, a 2-0 Regis win — went to overtime. Neither team had a particularly great opportunity to score in that period, so they went to a second OT.
In that overtime, Dale took the inbounds pass on a penalty corner, passed to a teammate, who immediately returned the ball, and Dale buried the shot in the lower right corner.
Regis Jesuit, the defending champion, will now continue its quest to defend its title on Tuesday night.
