5A boys lacrosse: Mountain Vista, Arapahoe set for rematch in championship game
By Courtney Oakes & Brad Cochi
Photo: Courtney Oakes/Sentinel Colorado
The Class 5A boys lacrosse state semifinals were played on Monday night at the University of Denver’s Peter Barton Stadium. In the first game of the night, defending champion and fifth-seeded Mountain Vista defeated No. 1 Regis Jesuit. In the late game, No. 6 Arapahoe defeated No. 7 Poudre School District.
On Friday at 7:30 p.m., Mountain Vista and Arapahoe will play for the state championship back at Peter Barton Stadium.
Nate Kopec clearly has an outstanding team in front of him, one that is headed to the Class 5A boys lacrosse state championship game for a second straight season.
But the Mountain Vista senior goalie had to give a nod to two others, both coated in orange paint, that are always by his side.
A shot by Regis Jesuit’s Fletcher Sullivan with the final second of regulation running off the clock got by Kopec, but ricocheted off the goalpost and came out as the fifth-seeded Golden Eagles held on for a thrilling 9-8 win over the top-seeded Raiders in front of a lively crowd at Peter Barton Stadium on the campus of the University of Denver.
“I love those guys, those are my best teammates,” Kopec said with a smile after the goalposts after Mountain Vista earned the chance to defend the state championship it won last season when it faces either No. 7 Poudre School District or No. 6 Arapahoe at 7:30 p.m. Friday on the same field.
“Honestly, I’ve never been more nervous than in that moment, but I knew we would pull through. I had a feeling,” he added. “I guess you could say we got lucky, but it was a team win, so it wasn’t lucky.”
With 3.6 seconds remaining, Sullivan took the ball in from the end line, beat a defender and got off a low shot that hit the far post and caromed out to midfield as the buzzer sounded, sending the Golden Eagles into a massive celebration.
The near-miss made junior Joel Palasz’s goal with 1 minute, 38 seconds, remaining stand up as the game-winner.
Mountain Vista coach Matthew Plitnick believed his team could come through in the final seconds, especially with Kopec — who he called the best goalie in the state — between the pipes, which also proved to be helpful.
“We needed just one more stop, one more stop,” Plitnick said. “We knew they were talented, we knew they had some of the best shooters in the state, but we pulled it out. I couldn’t be more impressed.”
Coach Jim Soran’s Regis Jesuit team — which was the only one of the top four seeds that survived an upset-filled quarterfinal round — found itself down four goals right off the bat, but worked its way back gradually, eating into Mountain Vista’s lead until Sullivan scored twice in the opening half of the third quarter tie it at 6-6.
The play of Kopec — plus several shots that also were turned away by posts — kept the game even, then the Golden Eagles broke the tie with goals by juniors Brady Brown and Jake Stopkoski in the last 1:24 of the period.
Regis Jesuit got back within a goal when senior Charlie Denlinger scored with 5:48 remaining, which set up a tense final few minutes.
“We knew even when we were up two, they were going to answer back,” Plitnick said. “They were the No. 1 team in the state and they are a super talented group, so we knew they wouldn’t go away. I was just hoping we had enough to stop them in the end.”
Stopkoski scored a game-high four goals, while fellow juniors Brown and Riley Jenkins had two goals apiece as Mountain Vista avenged a 13-12 loss to Regis Jesuit back on April 26. Sullivan had three goals and senior Logan White two in the loss for the Raiders.
Now, Mountain Vista can turn its attention to winning another title after it defeated Valor Christian a year ago.
“I know we’ve got it,” Kopec said. “We’re on a good roll right now, so we’re excited.”
Poudre School District had been the darling of the 2022 Class 5A boys lacrosse state tournament, upsetting its way to the state semifinals.
But on Monday night at the University of Denver’s Peter Barton Stadium, the Arapahoe Warriors didn’t give the Stars any chance at a victory, pulling out to a commanding lead on their way to a 11-5 win. On Friday, the Warriors will take on defending champion Mountain Vista for a chance to win their first state championship since 2013.
“It was all about our mentality,” Warriors junior goalkeeper Ian Thompson said. “Our mentality coming into this was to control the pace and keep the pedal down, consistenly work and consistently execute throughout the game. A big thing for us this season is to play 48 minutes of lacrosse, to finish out the first half, to finish out the fourth quarter and to play a complete game of lacrosse.
“That’s what we did tonight.”
With Thompson leading a stifling defense the defense leading the way, the Warriors led 3-0 at halftime. The Warriors held the Stars scoreless and led 6-0 before Jackson Bergsten finally put his team on the scoreboard with a goal with 7:39 left in the third quarter. Arapahoe, however, continued to push the pace and led 9-3 at the end of the third quarter.
For Arapahoe, Mikey Moynihan had a hat trick. Fred Fulkerson, Jack Paulsen and Finn Hauhuth each had two goals.
“It was entirely a team effort,” Thompson said. “Our defense has played impeccable this whole entire run. I’ve barely had to do anything. They’re all just ballers and they just work every single day, day in and day out, just putting in so much effort. And then our offense just really showed up today. They were burying the ball and getting good looks. It was just a complete team effort to get this win.”
Colton Pavlak scored twice.
Friday’s title game will be a rematch of the regular season finale between Arapahoe and Mountain Vista, which Arapahoe won, 9-8.
