4A Girls Lacrosse: Evergreen Rolls to Second-Consecutive State Title

DENVER – Ryn Gardner put an exciting end to a pressure cooker of a Class 4A girls lacrosse state championship game last season with a buzzer-beating game-winning goal.

A year later, on the same field, with another championship at stake, the Evergreen junior could relax a bit as her top-seeded team rolled to a 19-6 victory at Peter Barton Stadium on the campus of the University of Denver.

Gardner notched a team-high seven goals to help the Cougars win their second-straight state title and the third in four seasons.

“I was a lot less stressed,” Gardner said. “It was nice to actually have a lead this time because I was so stressed last year. I could enjoy it more. …Last year, I had the game-winner — which was one of my favorite experiences in playing lacrosse — but this was more of a team win so the whole team got to be in it.”

It was also much easier on coach Rachel Sanford, who watched her team build on the experience from last season and live up to the expectations generated by last season’s exciting victory over Mead.

Evergreen ended the season on a 12-game winning streak and with a sparkling 16-2 record that included a win over ThunderRidge, which played for the 5A state title against Valor Christian.

“Last year’s game was exciting at the end, this one was exciting on the other side,” Sanford said. “It’s been a great year. We’ve just been trying to handle the expectations of having that one seed and knowing what it takes to win that championship and knowing how to show up in big moments.”

In a matchup of programs very familiar with each other — including a meeting back on April 22 won by Evergreen 14-10 — the teams were even at two goals apiece after one quarter.

The Rams (14-5) played a more deliberate style on offense with a lengthy possession that spanned the first half of the second quarter, but resulted in no goals.

Instead, sophomore Grace Lessig took a lead pass and raced in for a fast break goal on the other end that gave Evergreen a lead it would never relinquish.

Then, it was off to the races for the Cougars, who scored the next 11 goals.

“We changed our game plan after they scored their first two goals and it look a really long time until they scored that third goal, so I think it worked,” Sanford said.

Lessig and senior Emma Crosbie finished with three goals apiece to help Evergreen’s offense attack, which didn’t let up until the final minutes when it brought in substitutes with a double-digit lead.

“I love the team, they are my family and I love the coach,” Gardner said. “This was a great year for us.”

Senior Kara Harris scored three goals and junior Kya Cooper had two to lead the way for Green Mountain.