Field Hockey: Championship Finals Set for Wednesday
Photo: Carol MacKay Photography
AURORA – The semifinals of the main championship bracket of the Field Hockey State Championships were decided in dramatic fashion Monday night, with both games not only going to overtime, but the nighcap being decided in a shootout, as top-seeded Cherry Creek snuck past No. 5 Regis Jesuit, 2-2 (2-0 in shootout). The Bruins will face No. 3 Kent Denver in the championship finals for a second-straight season.
The Sun Devils advanced to this year’s championship game by once again using overtime to knock off Colorado Academy in the semifinals, as freshman Maya Johnson’s game-winner secured a 2-1 win for Kent Denver.
Kent Denver, last season’s runner-up, will be making its second-straight appearance in the title game. Owners of the most field hockey state championships in Colorado history – with 10 – the Sun Devils advanced to the title game in eight of nine years from 1998-2006, winning seven of those games. Kent Denver won its eighth and ninth state titles in 2009 and 2011, respectively, with its most recent championship coming in 2016.
Cherry Creek, last year’s state champion, is no stranger to the championship game, as the Bruins have advanced to the final game on 10 occasions, winning the title in 2002, 2007 anad 2024. Cherry Creek advanced to the championship game by defeating No. 5 Regis Jesuit in a shootout. The Bruins had scored the first two goals of the game, but the Raiders used a pair of unanswered goals in the second half to force overtime. Creek’s goalkeeper Leonah Mendelsberg was then perfect in the shootout, allowing the Bruins to advance with a 2-0 shootout victory.
This will mark the fourth time Kent Denver and Cherry Creek have met in the final game of the season, with Kent Denver coming away with wins the first two times (a 1-0 win in overtime in 2000 and a 1-0 victory in 2003) before the Bruins were victorious last year, 1-0.
The consolation semifinals will take place tomorrow night at DPS All-City Stadium, with No. 9 Mountain Vista facing No. 12 Poudre School District and No. 10 Smoky Hill taking on No. 11 St. Mary’s Academy.
The final games will then be played Thursday at DPS All-City Stadium. The consolation finals will take place at 5 p.m., followed by the championship finals at 7 p.m.
