4A Boys Lacrosse: Erie Wins Its First-Ever State Championship

DENVER – The Erie boys lacrosse team entered the record books for the first time last season, but not in the way the Tigers had hoped.

In 2023, the Tigers lost to Cheyenne Mountain in double overtime to record their program’s first runner-up finish. Close, but just out of the ultimate win column in Colorado high school sports history.

They took the next and final remaining step on Monday.

At the University of Denver’s Peter Barton Stadium, top-seeded Erie won 14-6 over No. 7 Northfield in the Class 4A state championship game. The Tigers, whose first season was in 2019, are officially boys lacrosse state champions for the first time.

“We’ve been working really hard and I feel like we’ve been knocking on the door,” Erie head coach Nick Mandia said. “To be honest, we’ve had rosters that could do this every single year since we started the program. So, each year has felt kind of like heartbreak and we’ve learned each year a new lesson. We’ve spent a lot of time together and we’re going to graduate some experience and talent.

“But I think that’s what’s helped us – those experiences. That double-overtime loss kept us hungry, kept us diligent. I’m really proud of these kids. They work hard.”

The Tigers (15-3) got off to a hot start, pulling out to an early 4-0 lead with four different players – Cooper Riley, Charlie O’Brien, Davis Mundy and Drake Chivukula – scored unanswered Tigers goals. Making its state title game debut, Northfield (15-4) got on the board with a goal from Colin O’Rourke and Isaac Coddington scored shortly after to send the game into the second quarter with a 4-2 Erie lead.

Northfield and Erie traded goals from Patrick Easterly (Northfield), Davis Mundy (Erie) and Isaac Poppleton (Northfield) to open the second half. Then Erie took over with seven straight goals – Liam Connors twice, Tyler Keating, Aidan Hill, Mundy, O’Brien and Connors again – to close out the victory.

O’Brien, Connors and Mundy each finished with a hat trick.

“It’s hard to call our offense balanced because a lot of our offense is generated in the attack,” Mandia said. “But something we were struggling with during the season and when we took that loss to Air Academy, we did have enough guys producing. We didn’t have enough confidence. We didn’t have enough guys stepping in. Tonight, we saw kids we were looking for in the middle of the season do it when it needed to happen.”