Girls Lacrosse: Evergreen and Green Mountain advance to 4A championship

ENGLEWOOD — Top-seeded Evergreen will get a chance to repeat as the Class 4A girls lacrosse state champions.

Standing in the way of the Cougars’ repeat will be Jeffco rival Green Mountain. It will be the first time ever that two Jeffco teams will play for the girls or boys lacrosse state title. 

“Evergreen is a great team. We’re a great team,” Green Mountain coach Savannah Phillips said after the Rams punched their ticket to the title game. “I kind of like the mentality that we are the underdog. I say that because nothing is given. Everything is earned. I think these girls get that.”

The Cougars and Rams have combined to win three of the past four 4A girls lacrosse state titles. Evergreen has a pair of girls lacrosse state trophies from 2021 and 2024. Green Mountain captured its lone girls lacrosse championship in 2022. 

The championship game is scheduled for 5 p.m. Friday, May 16, at Peter Barton Stadium at the University of Denver. 

No. 1 Evergreen 16, No. 4 Mead 10

Evergreen got off to a hot start on its way to a 16-10 victory against Mead in the first of two 4A girls lacrosse semifinals Wednesday night.

Mother Nature delayed the start at Randy Penn Stadium at Englewood High School. No. 4 Mead vs No. 1 Evergreen was originally scheduled to begin at 5 p.m., but lightning didn’t start until a little after 6 p.m.

“That was part of our game plan,” Evergreen coach Rachel Sanford said of the Cougars getting out to an early 5-0 lead in the first quarter. “This is our third year down here and dealing with a lightning delay. We knew how to spend our time and how to get ready. We came out on fire.”

Evergreen (15-2 record) spent part of the delay in the locker room watching the 4A state title game from a year ago against Mead. The Cougars scored a last-second goal by Ryn Gardner last season to take an 11-10 victory.

“We got all fired up and remembered how proud we made each other because we all participated in that game,” Evergreen senior Emma Crosbie said. “We showed up in the first half.”

Crosbie had a monster game against the Mavericks (13-5). The senior finished with five goals and six assists. Crosbie assisted Gardner on the first two goals and then scored her first goal to make it a 3-0 lead four minutes into the game.

“She is a leader. She is a senior captain,” Sanford said of Crosbie. “She has been in these big games. She always manages to show up.”

Gardner finished with six goals to lead the Cougars. Sophomore Grace Lessig had a trio of goals in Evergreen’s 11th straight victory.

Evergreen senior Alivia Hunsche had a strong game on both ends of the field. Husche had a pair of goals, including one behind-the-back shot in the second quarter that put the Cougars up 8-3.

“She is another senior captain that knows what it takes to play in these big games,” Sanford said of Hunsche. “She came ready to play.”

Mead senior Lucy Connors carried the Mavericks offensively. Connors finished with a game-high 8 goals. The Mavericks cut Evergreen’s lead to 10-8 in the third quarter, but Gardner, Lessig and Crosbie scored three straight goals to close out the third quarter.

“She is a great player,” Sanford said of Connors, who finished the season with 114 goals. “She is going to get her goals.”

It was the fourth go-around between Mead and Evergreen over the past three seasons. The Mavericks took the first two meetings, including a 4A semifinal match in 2023. The Cougars got a measure of revenge defeating Mead on a last-second goal in the 4A title game a year ago.

Each of the three previous meeting were 1-goal games.

“It feels great,” Sanford said about returning to the state championship. “We are happy to play on Friday night and keep our season going. We know it is going to be a battle no matter who it is, Battle Mountain or Green Mountain.”

No. 2 Green Mountain 12 , No. 3 Battle Mountain 9

Green Mountain returns to the state title game since winning it all in 2022.

The Rams grabbed a 7-2 lead at halftime against Battle Mountain and then held on late to take a 12-9 victory. The No. 3-seeded Huskies (13-4) made a run in the second half, but Green Mountain was able to close the deal late in the fourth quarter.

“I knew we would pull it together,” Green Mountain senior Avery Freedman said of the Rams surviving the fourth-quarter scare. “It came down to draws and in the end we pulled through.”

Freedman had a team-high 5 goals in the victory. Her biggest came with just over three minutes remaining in the game. Battle Mountain had scored three straight goals over the span of 70 seconds to cut the Rams’ lead to 10-9.

Following a timeout by Green Mountain coach Savannah Phillips, senior Rome Villani was able to win the draw and Freedman eventually scored on the possession for her fifth goal of the night.

“I think we just let it slip. We got a little bit too far ahead of ourselves,” Villani said about the Huskies getting within 10-9 with 4:18 to play in the fourth quarter. “Now we’ve been in this position. We won’t let it happen again.”

Green Mountain (14-4) was able to win another draw and then milk the clock a little before junior Kya Cooper put in her second goal of the game with 1:52 remaining to make it a 3-goal game.

“Any coach, especially this point in the season, is going to tell you that this game is won by possession. You have to have the ball,” Phillips said. “At the end of the day it is about coming together and getting the ball. As soon as you have the ball your confidence skyrockets.” 

Battle Mountain made a valiant attempt to rally despite playing down a player on the field for most of the second half. Junior Abigail Adochio received a yellow card for a dangerous shot with 4:09 left in the third quarter. It was the four yellow card issued to Battle Mountain on the night, so by rule, the Huskies had to play a man-down for the remainder of the game.

Junior Izzy Kovacik nearly single-handedly willed the Huskies to victory. The junior had six goals on the night, but it wasn’t enough as the Rams advanced to the final to face rival Evergreen.

“It’s going to be a brawl,” Villani said of facing Evergreen. “We just have to be the tougher team. We’ll see them Friday.”

Evergreen took a 14-10 victory over Green Mountain during 4A West League play back on April 22. Garnder led the way with a game-high 6 goals.

“Senior year, I’m super excited,” Freedman said of playing the defending state champs in the title game. “We’ll play our hardest and leave it all out on the field.”