LAKEWOOD — Dakota Ridge boys lacrosse took sole possession of first place in the Class 4A Foothills League on Wednesday night.
The Eagles — No. 3 in the CHSAANow.com 4A rankings — extended their winning streak to 10 cruising to a 16-4 victory over No. 9 Golden at Trailblazer Stadium.
“It’s a race to 10 (goals) and as soon as we get 10 it’s a race to 20 (goals),” Dakota Ridge coach Dak Riecke said after the Eagles’ winning streak hit double-digits. “Our goal is double-digits every time and push to the end. We want to finish strong and get our place in state (tournament) solidified.”
Dakota Ridge (11-2, 3-0 in 4A Foothills League) is the lone undefeated team in the conference standings after handing No. 9 Golden (7-5, 2-1) its first league loss. The Eagles could potentially clinch the conference title Friday night at Trailblazer Stadium when they play Conifer.
“It would really mean a lot from where we came from a couple years ago. We had kind of a brutal record,” Dakota Ridge senior goalie Logan Dobrowski said. “It would be pretty cool to see us go all the way.”
The Eagles went 9-7 last season that included a first-round 5A playoff loss. In the COVID shortened 2021 season, Dakota Ridge went 1-9.
Dakota Ridge led from start to finish against the Demons. A last-second goal to end the first quarter was the highlight. In the final moments of the first quarter senior Noah Triplett launched a pass nearly 80 yards through the air to senior Colin Smith, who gave a quick feed to sophomore Tyler Read.
“It blew my mind that Colin actually caught the pass,” Read said of his goal with 1.5 seconds left in the first quarter to make it a 4-0 lead for the Eagles. “That was crazy.”
Read scored a game-high 8 goals, while Smith added 4 goals to lead Dakota Ridge.
“That just shows you that we are doing something right that the lacrosse gods are shining on us,” Riecke said of the Eagles incredible goal to close out the first quarter. “To have something like that to set the tempo of the game was absolutely huge. We defintely don’t practice anything like that.”
Golden did go on a bit of a mini-run with goals by seniors Chase Marini and Lochlan Rogers to open the second quarter. However, Dakota Ridge scored the next 10 goals to extend to a 14-2 lead and induce a running clock late in the third quarter.
“I am kind of surprised with the outcome,” Dobrowski admitted.
Golden was held to a season-low 4 goals, while Dakota Ridge scored double-digit goals for the 10th straight game. Riecke said that the Eagles had been looking at film of Golden for a couple of weeks to help dissect the Demons’ defense.
Golden had its 5-game winning streak come to an end. The Demons are scheduled to face No. 6 Evergreen on Friday night at the North Area Athletic Complex.
“It would mean a lot,” Read said of a league title for Dakota Ridge. “Coach Dak has only been here a few years, but his goal is to win a (state) championship. A league (title) would be the start of it. We would go from there.”