Girls Lacrosse: Arapahoe’s Dail is a Dual Threat

AURORA – Asking Julianne Dail of the Arapahoe girls lacrosse team if she’d rather score goals or do the dirty work required to get ground balls doesn’t lead to an easy answer.

“If it’s a ground ball after you’ve done really good defense – that’s fun,” Dail said. “That doesn’t happen very much, so I like that. … You feel proud of it. But they’re both fun.”

That’s reflected statistically since Dail is equally adept at both – at one point last week, she led all Colorado players in both goals and ground balls. And, even though the Warriors had a game postponed due to weather last week and Dail missed another game due to illness, she is still first in the state with 39 goals and tied for sixth with 38 ground balls.

“She’s got a lot of well-rounded skills – kind of your complete player,” Arapahoe coach Matt Thomas said. “She does everything – she’s able to take draws; her ground balls she doesn’t give up on and controls; she plays great defense and communicates really well on defense; she’s wonderful in transition; she’s super aggressive with the ball; she’s very comfortable with how she can dodge and shoot; she loves to take shots; and she creates a lot of offense.

“To value a ground ball is definitely in her mindset. There’s plenty of players on every team who may create ground balls, create turnovers, but may not have the skill set to go get it, scoop it up, be fast enough to beat the other player to it, be aggressive enough to box them out. Julianne takes care of all that.”

Dail has helped a young Arapahoe team get off to a 5-3 start to the season and a No. 12 ranking in 5A in the CHSAA rankings that were released Monday. As the Warriors’ schedule ramps up in the back half of the season, they and the rest of the state’s girls lacrosse teams are hoping to build towards the postseason, which starts May 6 (4A) and May 7 (5A) and culminates with state championship games on May 16.

“It’s been a good warmup, because our team is super different from last year,” Dail said. “Playing a few easier teams was super helpful because we got everyone to touch the ball and everyone’s confidence is up going into the harder games. But we’ve played some good teams closer to our level, too, and we’ve really stepped up and we’ve done really well.”

Said Thomas: “We’re coming together as a team as we’re learning about each other with a new coach and a new system. They’ve been working well together and playing as a team with some rising stars. We’ve been able score a bunch as we continue to develop the rest of team. It’s been a lot of fun getting started on a positive note, and now we want to take that positivity and steer it into conference play.”

The Warriors, ranked No. 14 through Monday, were 6-10 last year and were 3-12 the season before.

Their losses this season have been to No. 2 Heritage (when Dail had five of the Warriors’ six goals), to No. 3 Regis Jesuit (when Dail was out) and a close defeat to No. 12 Kent Denver, the team that knocked them out of the 2024 postseason.

Upcoming games against the likes of No. 13 Cherry Creek, No. 9 Northfield, No. 15 Denver South and No. 11 Denver East will help crystallize where the Warriors stand. A game against Pine Creek, which had been No. 13, was postponed due to weather.

“We’re excited to see how we can compete against them and maybe surprise not only ourselves but everybody else with basically a different team from last year,” Thomas said.

Dail is among many Colorado standouts in the sport, a list that includes returning 5A all-state first-team selection Rocquette Allen of ThunderRidge (25 goals, 46 points) and 4A Green Mountain’s high-scoring trio of Rome Villani (23 assists, 51 points), Kya Cooper 49 points and returning all-state first team selection Kara Harris (31 goals), a junior. Another 4A all-state first teamer back from last year is Mead’s Lucy Conners, who has 37 goals and 17 assists for a state-leading 54 points.

Dail started her varsity career in fine fashion last season, impressively scoring 39 goals in 16 games while adding nine assists and 38 ground balls. But she had already matched and surpassed those totals in seven games this season, with 39 goals, 11 assists and 38 grounds balls. Her shooting percentage has soared .796 this year and she’s third with 50 points.

Dail said she hoped for 25 goals last year and had set her goal for 40 this season.

“We haven’t had a ton of super strong opponents, but even if you’re a really good player you’re still on a field with 11 other people,” Thomas said. “The ball still needs to get to you. You still need to create offense and finish. So putting in five to six goals per game, to go with a couple of assists, is still an amazing feat no matter the competition.”

Dail said she got her introduction to lacrosse as a kindergartner, when her sister Karalyn – now a soccer goalkeeper at Army West Point – started playing the sport. Over time, Julianne began putting more focus on lacrosse.

“In middle school, I would come home and practice in my backyard, shoot a lot,” she said. “I would do wall ball every day. I just practiced a lot on my own. There’s a lot to learn, a lot of stick tricks you can do, so I’m never bored with it. And then I saw it pay off. My freshman year was super fun.”

Now, Dail’s skills, experience, ability and mindset have combined to make playing against her anything but enjoyable.

“She’s super athletic,” Thomas said. “She’s incredibly strong, quick and fast.

“She’s doing excellent all over the field. Her numbers are pretty amazing, and as a sophomore it’s pretty impressive stuff.”

Dail started playing field hockey as well as a sophomore, but down the road she hopes to play lacrosse at the Division I level.

“The summer will be big for me,” she said. “I’m going to have to play really well before I start talking to colleges. I don’t have anything in mind at the moment, I’m just keeping an open mind.”

Said Thomas: “Julianne, without a doubt, has the traits, the mindset, the work ethic – all of it – to definitely play Division I.”

In the meantime, Arapahoe is looking to see where it fits in the postseason picture.

“We were all nervous going into a new season after we lost eight seniors,” Dail said. “Julia (Macheca) has stepped up a lot, and there are two other sophomores who play defense who have stepped up. We’ve been able to recover from losing so many girls. Instead of going down, we’ve risen.”