DENVER — Cherry Creek girls lacrosse coach Kathryn Ames huddled her girls after their 18-11 win in Saturday’s semifinals, and, sounding relieved, said, “That was Creek.”
Championship games are routine for Cherry Creek girls lacrosse. The Bruins have been to the finals every year since the sport was sanctioned in 1998 — a streak of 18-consecutive games — and have won nine of the last 15 years. But Denver East was making it anything but an easy path at the start of the game.
The Angels began Saturday’s semifinal game on a 3-0 run in under five minutes of play. Shortly thereafter, Cherry Creek began to hit the back of the net, eventually tying it at 4-4 and keeping the game close.
The half continued to remain a tight battle, with both teams taking leads. The scoreboard read 8-8 at the half, prompting the question if this could be the end of a longtime Cherry Creek run.
The matchup for the two teams has always favored Cherry Creek. They met at the semifinals in 2000, 2007, and 2009, with Creek winning on every occasion. In 2010, the two met in the finals, where East fell short.
East, which won a meeting between the two teams earlier this season, was looking to flip the script today.
But the second half was dominated by Creek’s offense, a squad that scored four unanswered goals to pull ahead early. East scored three goals in the last 20 minutes, but the momentum remained on the Bruins side for the remainder of the game, as they pulled away with a final score of 18-11.
“We have had this ongoing issue of not playing the whole game,” Ames said. “Our goal has to be play 50 minutes. I told my girls to get back out there, stay on their toes, and not to settle.”
Senior Caroline Perry and Sophomore Eliza Radochonski did just that, combining for nine goals in their victory.
In the final game of the regular season two weeks back, East beat Cherry Creek 13-12. But when it was win-or-go-home, the Bruins made it count.
“That wasn’t us at our last matchup,” Ames said. “We haven’t really showed what we can do. We had a lot to rebuild this year and have created so much depth. Now we just have to use our consistency and our unity.”
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(3) Colorado Academy 14, (7) Centaurus
After a two hour lightning delay, No. 3 Colorado Academy and No. 7 Centaurus returned to the turf to start the second semifinal of the day.
In similar fashion to the first game, the underdog scored first. But things quickly shifted towards Colorado Academy and after 25 minutes of play, Cherry Creek led 7-3.
Centaurus senior Sarah Myers scored all three of the first half goals and continued to lead her offense through the game, becoming the the sole scorer for the Warriors and tallying five unassisted goals.
“We are just young,” Myers said of her team’s shortcomings. “A lot of the players don’t have the experience yet.”
In contrast, the Mustangs used the depth of their team, with goals coming from eight different players. Sophomore Sydney Prokupek and junior Emma Richards scored three goals apiece.
Colorado Academy played the second half with unparalleled consistency, finding nearly almost seam in Centaurus’s defense and capitalizing.
On the other end of the field, sophomore goalie Bridget Sutter made big saves to set up her team’s scoring rhythm.
Senior Henley Hall and sophomore Claire Wright connected three times at the goal, attacking the zone with a one-two, pass-shot punch.
“We are a big family. It’s more than just our offense scoring consistently,” said Hall. “We all support each other throughout the field. And we trust each other. Coach is always telling us the importance of having each other’s backs.”
Colorado Academy coach Steph Sanders worked to keep her girls positive and in the right mindset during the game delay.
“I’m proud of how they came out. I tell them to be confident yet level-headed,” said Sanders.
She wants to set a more efficient pace at the championship game.
“We need to work on being more disciplined on attack,” Sanders said. “We tend to get excited when we have the ball and want to make a play immediately. We just need to take our time.”
Colorado Academy takes on Cherry Creek Wednesday evening at University of Denver.
