The Class 5A girls lacrosse state semifinals were on Tuesday night at Englewood and neither penultimate game dissapointed the attending fans. In the first game of the night, No. 1 Colorado Academy took down No. 4 Cherry Creek and in the second game, No. 2 Valor Christian came storming back to beat No. 3 Fairview.
Defending champion Colorado Academy will play Valor Christian on Friday in a title-game rematch.
(1) Colorado Academy 9, (4) Cherry Creek 7
Like clockwork, the Mustangs are back.
For the seventh-consecutive time, the No. 1 seeded Colorado Academy girls lacrosse team has advanced to the championship game, as they held on to defeat No. 4 Cherry Creek, 9-7, Tuesday evening, May 17, at Englewood’s Pirate Stadium.
The Mustangs will go for their eighth overall title in program history, and seventh straight, Friday night.
“I was really proud of how our girls fought tonight,” CA head coach Laura Sandbloom stated. “Creek certainly came to play, so it was a great competition until the very end. I don’t think we necessarily played our best, but we played most like a team, so that’s why we were able to come out on top.”
These two teams met earlier in the season in a non-league matchup, March 4, where the Mustangs rolled to victory, 15-4. This time around, the upset minded Bruins gave CA everything they could handle.
“The great thing about this younger CA team is that, when someone is not having their best game, another player steps up and plays well,” Sandbloom continued. “I was able to throw in some subs who came up with some huge plays. I think that just represents that it’s the whole team, and it really matters not only who you have on the field starting, but who you have on the bench.”
A pair of players recorded hat tricks, as CA sophomore Alex May, and Creek senior Molly Threlkeld each scored three. Alex’s twin sister, Skylar, was the only other player with multiple goals, as she scored a pair.
The game started with a flurry, as four goals were scored in the first five minutes. Then there were just two over the next 13 minutes until Creek’s Greer Simonton scored with just under seven minutes to play in the first to make it 4-3.
A few minutes later, CA got the lead back to two on a penalty shot goal from S. May, but it was short lived as less than a minute later, Creek’s Anna Gawthrop scored to keep it a one goal game into the half.
The defenses held tight until the 18:18 mark, when Bruin Sawyer Billings scored on a penalty shot to knot the game at 5-5. The Mustangs answered back with a goal from their leading scorer, Zoe Martin, to get the lead back at 6-5 with 15:38 to play.
Both teams continued to work meticulously in the second half, as the next goal didn’t come until the 10:25 mark, as Skylar Camacho got things back to even with a goal. Just three minutes later, A. May scored her third goal of the evening, giving her the hat trick and the Mustangs the lead once again with 7:13 ticks on the clock.
Threlkeld completed her hat trick a couple minutes later, but the celebration was short lived as Katherine Rhine gave the Mustangs their lead back, 8-7, with five and a half to play.
Cherry Creek had a golden opportunity to tie once again at the four-minute mark, but a crucial save from Olivia Aguirre kept CA ahead. Then Addy Smith sealed the game with an empty netter goal with 26 seconds left on the clock.
(2) Valor Christian 15, (3) Fairview 14 (OT)
ENGLEWOOD – There is no quit in the Valor Christian girls lacrosse team.
On Tuesday, the Eagles trailed Fairview by as many as five goals with just over four minutes left in the Class 5A state semifinals but still found a way to claw their way back. Junior Reagan Digby scored with two seconds left in regulation to tie the game and send it into overtime and Tess Osburn scored the game-winner 37 seconds into overtime to give the Eagles a 15-14 victory that sealed a matchup with Colorado Academy in Friday’s championship game at the University of Denver.
“That was exciting,” Valor Christian head coach Terry Ellis said. “It’s just a testament to the girls and their ability to keep fighting and keep going. A lot of teams could have folded there. But they kept going and kept hammering away until they got that last goal and then the goal in overtime. Returning back to DU, it feels good and just to have another day with the girls feels good.”
In Tuesday’s win, Tess Osburn and Eliza Osburn combined to score 11 of the Eagles’ 15 goals. For the Fairview Knights, who got an outstanding performance from goalie Thayer Hubbard, Allie Hartman led the offense with five goals.
“Credit to Fairview. They made it difficult for us, for sure,” Ellis said. “They made incredible adjustments and we were making adjustments to their adjustments. It was just a phenomenal game overall.”
Friday’s state title game will be a rematch of last year’s championship, in which Colorado Academy won 14-3 over Valor Christian. The Eagles will be playing for their first girls lacrosse title against a Colorado Academy team that has won seven.