CHSAANow

Month: April 2017

  • Wheat Ridge wins boys lacrosse showdown with Dawson

    A host of Wheat Ridge players converge on Dawson senior Colin Petersen on Friday night at Trailblazer Stadium. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)

    LAKEWOOD — Dawson and Wheat Ridge boys lacrosse teams would love to see each other again, preferably on May 19 at Mile High Stadium.

    Dawson, No. 1 in the latest CHSAANow.com Class 4A boys lacrosse rankings, and Wheat Ridge, No. 9 in the 5A poll, couldn’t meet each other with a state title on the line playing in different classifications. Still, the Mustangs and Farmers are determined to be playing in that final day of the 4A and 5A state tournaments.

    “The goal is always to get a state championship, but our No. 1 goal right now is to make it into playoffs,” Wheat Ridge’s leading goal scorer Zach Hall said after the Farmers defeated Dawson 11-7 in a non-league game Friday night at Trailblazer Stadium.

    Dawson, a private school located in Boulder County, had to settle for the 4A state runner-up trophy losing to Valor Christian in the title game last season.

    Wheat Ridge’s Ryan Middle (11) attempts to wheel around Dawson’s Asher Walker. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)

    Wheat Ridge won the 4A title in 2013 and followed that up with a state runner-up finish in 2014 before making the jump to 5A in 2015. The Farmers have had strong regular seasons the past two years, but have been bounced out of the 5A state tournament in the opening round the past two years.

    “Dawson, 4A or 5A doesn’t matter, they are tough,” Wheat Ridge coach Chris Knott said. “We were in their shoes a couple of years ago before we moved up to 5A. They have solid athletes. Gavyn Pure is the real deal and so is Kyle Sudol on face-offs.”

    The Mustangs (5-1 overall) grabbed an early 2-0 in the first quarter before Wheat Ridge (6-2) got going offensively. Hall ended a 4-0 run through the end of the first quarter and into the second quarter to give the Farmers a 4-2 lead.

    “We start off slow almost every game,” admitted Hall, who had five goals in the win to push his season total to 13 goals on the season. “It’s something we’ve got to fix.”

    Dawson tied things up at 4-4 early in the third quarter with back-to-back goals from Hunter Watts and Ernie Quintana, but the Farmers responded again with another 4-0 run led by Hall. The senior scored three straight goals to put the game away.

    Dawson’s Hunter Watts (23) wards off Wheat Ridge’s Trey Sayers. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)

    “Offensively this year I think he (Hall) feels it’s his team,” Knott said. “It’s his opportunity to lead and go out big. When he feels the pressure he puts it on his shoulders. He rose to the occasion tonight.”

    Defensively, the Farmers were impressive holding Dawson to a season-low seven goals. Senior goalie Nolan Hector picked up the victory in net for Wheat Ridge.

    “We pride ourselves on holding teams under 10 goals every game,” Hector said. “It feels great to keep our offense in it and get them the ball. In the end it’s all about getting the win and that’s what we did.”

    Wheat Ridge would love to get a win at Mile High Stadium to close out the Knott’s coaching career with the Farmers. After 14 years at Wheat Ridge, Knott has already announced he we step down after this season.

    “There is no pressure. I love doing this,” Knott said of his final year coaching the Farmers. “It’s about the kids and creating an opportunity for them. Would I love going out winning a state championship? Of course. Who wouldn’t? If these kids put it together they can do.”

    Hall agreed that there isn’t any extra pressure for Knott’s final season at the helm.

    “It’s just pride,” Hall said. “We want to do it for him (Knott) and make his last year the best it can be.”

    Wheat Ridge opens 5A Front Range League play against Rocky Mountain in Fort Collins on Friday, April 14. The Mustangs get back into their 4A Pikes Peak League play at George Washington on Thursday, April 13.

    Wheat Ridge and Dawson both of aspirations to have deep postseason runs this boys lacrosse season. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)

  • Photos: Cherry Creek baseball wins top-5 showdown against Cherokee Trail

    AURORA — Cherry Creek baseball jumped out to an 8-0 lead after the top of the second inning, and went on to beat Cherokee Trail 12-5.

    The second-ranked Bruins also scored one run in the third, and then three more in the sixth after No. 4 Cherokee Trail had cut it to 8-4 in the bottom of the second.

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  • Photos: Hanson leads Arapahoe’s upset of Mullen in girls lacrosse

    DENVER — Meg Hanson had six goals and two assists as Arapaohe girls lacrosse upset No. 9 Mullen 13-8 on Friday.

    Lizzie Pierpont added three goals and an assist for the Warriors, while Tatum Ramsey had two goals.

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  • Photos: No. 2 Cherry Creek boys lacrosse beats No. 3 Mountain Vista

    GREENWOOD VILLAGE — Second-ranked Cherry Creek boys lacrosse picked up a big win on Friday, beating No. 3 Mountain Vista 12-7.

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  • Photos: Lewis-Palmer boys lacrosse tops Chatfield

    MONUMENT — Lewis-Palmer boys lacrosse used a five-goal third quarter to beat Chatfield 10-8 on Friday. The Rangers are now 6-1 this season.

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  • Photos: No. 10 Dakota Ridge boys lacrosse beats Lakewood in OT

    LAKEWOOD — No. 10 Dakota Ridge boys lacrosse avoided an upset bid from Lakewood with a 14-13 win in overtime on Friday.

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  • Lewis-Palmer hockey turns to Kevin Margarucci as new head coach

    Lewis-Palmer hockey team
    File photo. (Ray Chen/ArrayPhoto.com)

    The loss of hockey coach Hal Jordan is still fresh for Lewis-Palmer.

    But rather than dwell on the past, the Rangers are instead looking toward the future. They have hired longtime assistant Kevin Margarucci as the new coach. Margarucci and athletic director Nick Baker confirmed the move to CHSAANow.com Saturday.

    “I think it makes for an easy transition,” Margarucci said. “I know the program, I know the school and a lot of the returning players. It’ll make for some familiarity between me and the kids.”

    Margarucci has been with Lewis-Palmer since 2006 and will provide a level of consistency to the team that Baker thought would be vital for the future of the program.

    “He’s been with the program since its inception,” Baker said. “He was an assistant under two head coaches and he’s worked in a high school environment too. The fact that he’s worked with USA Hockey and he’s done some player development at the youth level.”

    The Rangers went into the state playoffs as the No. 17 seed and came away with a 3-2 win over No. 16 Kent Denver in the first round.

    But they ran into Regis Jesuit in the second round and fell 7-1 to end the season.

    The hockey program at Lewis-Palmer is familiar with success. The team won back-to-back state championships in 2010 and 2011. Baker believes that under Margarucci, the team is capable of getting back to championship form.

    “Being around a championship culture and being a part of it wasn’t a one and done thing,” Baker said. “He was a part of the entire process that made it to the Great 8, the Frozen 4, was a runner-up and then it was champions and champions. He went through the whole progression.”

    On top of his duties now as coach of the Rangers, Margarucci also works with USA Hockey as the manager of player safety. He has also served as the athletic trainer at Lewis-Palmer.

    He’s going to start getting the team together in Many and he’ll look to keep a little bit of what Jordan had installed systematically, but he also wants to throw in some new wrinkles.

    “We’re going to run some different systems and do some different things,” he said. “But they know the way I coach and I know them and I think it will be easy.”

  • Wheat Ridge girls soccer edges Standley Lake to begin league journey

    Wheat Ridge senior Alex Nillen (5) fires home the lone goal Thursday in a 1-0 victory over Standley Lake at the NAAC. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)

    ARVADA — Wheat Ridge’s girls soccer team officially began its quest to defend its Class 4A Jeffco League title Thursday at the North Area Athletic Complex.

    The Farmers, No. 5 in the latest CHSAANow.com 4A girls soccer rankings, got off to a 1-0 start in conference play with a 1-0 win over Standley Lake.

    “It is always nice to get that first (league) win to build that confidence,” Wheat Ridge senior Alex Nillen said. “From here on out hopefully we can continue this and keep playing how we are playing.”

    Wheat Ridge (6-0 overall, 1-0 4A Jeff) is not only undefeated, but it has also racked up five shutout victories already this season. Sophomore goalie Logan DuFord has given up just a single goal in her six starts in net.

    Wheat Ridge’s Melissa Browne (4), Alex Nillen (5) and Kyra Midroy (8) celebrate after Nillen’s goal. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)

    “I’m not going to take all the credit,” DuFord said. “Because our defense is such a family I think we communicate really well and work well together.”

    The last line of defense for the Farmers had a couple of key grabs in the second half when Standley Lake (4-1-2, 0-1) had some dangerous chances.

    “The back four (defenders) have been very, very strong limiting those opportunities, but you have to have that piece (DuFord) back there to hold it together,” Wheat Ridge coach Dan Watkins said. “She not only made some good stops, but held on to some balls. Logan just steps up and makes plays.”

    The offensive play Wheat Ridge put together for the lone goal came in the 14th minute off a corner kick. Junior Melissa Browne sent in a low line drive into the box. Nillen was able to get in front of a handful of Gator defenders to volley the ball past Standley Lake junior goalie Emma Smith.

    “I saw the space. We’ve been practicing corners and I just kind of made a run,” Nillen said. “Before I knew it, it hit my foot. It was kind of surprising, but I thought it was a good finish.”

    Nillen’s shot just got under the crossbar. It was Nillen’s eighth goal of the season from her midfield position.

    Standley Lake’s Haley Klasner (9) advances the ball up the field. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)

    “They have come from all over the board,” Nillen said of her barrage of goals. “When the opportunity is there I take my shot and hopefully it goes in.”

    Standley Lake didn’t fade by any means after Nillen’s goal. The Gators hung tough, but just couldn’t get the equalizer.

    “We defend well. We just have a problem getting forward and getting opportunities,” said Standley Lake coach Derek Cortvriendt, who’s Gators lost 3-2 in overtime last year against the Farmers in league play. “Wheat Ridge is very well organized and ran the clock out well in the end there not allowing us any good chances.”

    Watkins knows pretty much every conference game will be a battle throughout league play. Four 4A Jeffco teams — Valor Christian, Wheat Ridge, D’Evelyn and Evergreen — are ranked in the top 10. Standley Lake, Green Mountain and Littleton also received votes in the last poll.

    Wheat Ridge sophomore goalie Logan DuFord has allowed just one goal in six games. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)

    “I think that is what it’s going to be every night out,” Watkins said. “There is so much depth. So many good teams and so many good players. We were fortunate to be on the right side of it tonight. Jeffco is going to be a monster.”

    Cortvriendt believes his team can “defend all day” but has to have more possession and offensive scoring chances during the Gators’ road through the conference.

    “It is like a year-long playoff basically and that is how it feels,” Cortvriendt added. “It is great because it gets you ready to go for the state playoffs.”

    This isn’t much question that the Jeffco League is the deepest conference in Class 4A this spring. (Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Athletics)

  • No. 2 Valor Christian boys lacrosse dominates No. 3 Cheyenne Mountain

    Cheyenne Mountain Valor Christian boys lacrosse
    (Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

    COLORADO SPRINGS — Valor Christian went into Thursday night’s showdown with Cheyenne Mountain more than aware they were on a four-game losing streak.

    And the players decided early that enough was enough.

    A 10-0 run in the first half completely set the two teams apart and it was the CHSAANow.com No. 2-ranked Eagles who came away with a 22-8 win. When they end a four-game skid, they make sure everyone knows that they can still play some lacrosse.

    “We were trying to prove to the state that we still got it after this losing streak,” sophomore Lance Tillman said.

    The Eagles (3-4 overall) lost in a Class 4A state title rematch against Dawson before falling to Lewis-Palmer and two Florida teams.

    Perhaps the worst part of this streak for the players is that they feel they were good enough to win each of those games.

    “We’ve had a lot of games that we think we should have won, it was just little mistakes that came into play that we couldn’t capitalize on,” senior Grayson Goodyear said.

    Thursday night, Valor came out looking like it was on a mission. Before Cheyenne Mountain knew what was happening, it was in a two-goal deficit.

    Gianni Orlando and Tillman put the Eagles up 2-0 with five minutes, 44 seconds left in the first quarter. The Indians (4-3) responded with a goal from August Johnson and less than two minutes later Jack Egan found Wiley Burkett on a stellar pass from behind the net.

    Burkett easily beat Valor goalie Jack Liselli and it looked like the game was a going to be a slugfest like the one at Don Breese Stadium.

    “It’s weird, I don’t really worry about the score too much early,” Valor coach John Grant said. “I just worry about how they’re playing. If they’re playing well and playing hard, I’m more focused on that.

    Goodyear scored right at the end of the quarter to regain the lead for the Eagles, and then the floodgates opened.

    Valor scored seven goals in the second quarter, three of them coming off Tillman’s stick. He scored six goals in the game while Goodyear led all scorers with seven.

    “It was all about ball movement,” Goodyear said. “We just stopped being selfish and we weren’t worried about stats or anything. We just moved the ball and found the net.”

    At one point, Goodyear and Tillman scored only nine seconds apart and Tillman added another one 26 seconds after that.

    Things wouldn’t get any better in the second half. Goodyear and Tillman picked up right where they left off and Cheyenne Mountain seemed overmatched by the defending Class 4A state champions.

    Cheyenne Mountain Valor Christian boys lacrosse
    (Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)

    Burkett was able to get his second goal of the game with 7:33 left in the third and Cullen Nordeman followed that up with three-straight goals. But it was too little, too late.

    “They were just a far superior team than we were,” Indians coach Mike Paige said. “They were faster than we were and they had better ball control than we did. And they just didn’t make any errors.”

    The Eagles took a 15-6 lead into the fourth quarter and although the Indians got another goal from Johnson, they just didn’t have the energy to rally back.

    It’s the first win for Valor since Mar. 13 when they beat Conifer 20-10. For Grant, it’s much-needed relief to snap this streak, especially against a traditionally strong program.

    “We never push the panic button,” Grant said. “We lost to a good Dawson team, Lewis-Palmer has been playing incredibly well and we played two very well-coached, amazing teams in Florida. We got the bad end of all four, but we stuck to the game plan.”

    Valor is back in action Friday against Englewood and Cheyenne Mountain will see Thompson Valley on Saturday.

  • Photos: Ralston Valley baseball scores five runs in the sixth to beat Wheat Ridge

    ARVADA — Down three runs in the top of the sixth, Wheat Ridge rallied to tie the game, but Ralston Valley countered with five runs in the bottom of the inning to claim a 8-3 win on Thursday.

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