Dakota Ridge boys lacrosse streaks into 4A state quarterfinals

LAKEWOOD — After a tight first quarter, Dakota Ridge boys lacrosse turned its Class 4A 2nd round game against Lutheran into a laugher Friday night at Trailblazer Stadium.

The No. 2-seeded Eagles scored 15 unanswered goals through the second and third quarters to take a dominating 19-5 victory over the No. 18 Lions. The win advanced Dakota Ridge in the 4A quarterfinals Tuesday, May 13, where the Eagles will host No. 7 Telluride back to Trailblazer Stadium.

“We wanted to pummel them as much as we could,” Dakota Ridge senior Tyler Read said of the 14-goal margin of victory. “We wanted to show that we are the best (4A) team in the state and why we deserve the No. 1 seed, not Aspen.” 

Dakota Ridge (14-2 record) was atop the CHSAA Selection & Seeding Index for the majority of the season, but undefeated Aspen (15-0) leaped over the Eagles to take the top-seed for the state tournament. 

Clearly, Dakota Ridge has a bit of a chip on its shoulder with how the seeding went.

“I’ll be honest, us (coaches) and the entire team is a little pissed off that we are the No. 2 seed,” Dakota Ridge coach Dak Riecke said. 

Dakota Ridge’s lone two losses were to Colorado Academy (No. 4 seed in 5A) and Fairview (No. 7 seed in 5A). The Eagles would face a 4A Foothills League rival in either No. 3 Evergreen or No. 6 Golden in the semifinals if Dakota Ridge gets past Telluride.

“Our goal is the championship. We want to get there,” Read said. “We have been on the cusp of it every year. This is our year we feel.”

Read, along with seniors Nolan Hartman, Jackson Thomas and junior Brody Spallone led the way offensively for the Eagles in their eight straight victory. 

Things did start a little shaky with Dakota Ridge and Lutheran locked in a 2-2 tie after the first quarter.

“We had the week off and that really hurt us,” Read said of the nine days off since the Eagles’ regular-season finale April 30. “We like come out and playing game after game after game.”

Riecke said he has a handful of starters coming off of injuries. It just took a little while for those returners to shake off the rust. Senior goalie Zach Hearn stood strong until the Eagles started to dominate.

“We knew we had them,” Hearn said of the 2-2 tie after the first quarter. “We just had to keep working and keep grinding. We knew we could play better.”

Hearn held Lutheran scoreless through the second and third quarters.

“Zach is one of the best goals in 4A,” Riecke said. “He is amazing between the pipes. He definitely held the defense together.”

The 19 goals was the second highest scoring output of the season for the Eagles.

“That is a hell of feat with our offense and defense,” Riecke said of the 15-goal run.