Regis Jesuit walked away with a win over Arapahoe in a No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown on Saturday. Monday, the Raiders are the unanimous pick to lead CHSAANow.com’s Class 5A boys lacrosse poll.
Cherry Creek moved up one spot to No. 2, Kent Denver jumped two places to No. 3 and Arapahoe fell to fourth. Mountain Vista rounds out the top five.
Chaparral (No. 8) and Columbine (No. 10) joined the 5A ranking this week.
Wheat Ridge extended its stay at No. 1 in 4A.
Behind the Farmers, Ponderosa moved up four spots to No. 2. Likewise, Steamboat Springs went from No. 7 to No. 3. Aspen is fourth and Thompson Valley rounds out the top five.
Air Academy is the lone newcomer this week at No. 10.
AURORA — In a heavyweight bout between two elite boys lacrosse programs, No. 2 Regis Jesuit delivered a knockout punch with back-to-back goals to end the third quarter and give the Raiders a 12-8 lead over No. 1 Arapahoe. Regis sealed the victory with smothering defense to beat the two-time defending Class 5A state champion Warriors 16-8 on Saturday afternoon at Lou Kellogg Stadium in front of Regis’ home fans.
In a rematch of a semifinal playoff game last year — a contest Arapahoe won 13-5 — Regis wanted revenge against one of their great rivals.
“It’s always good to beat Arapahoe. They knocked us off in the playoffs last year and we never forgave them for it,” Regis coach Jim Soran said with a laugh.
(Brock Laue)
Saturday’s game was marked by runs and momentum shifts. Regis started hot with a goal by Chase Konkel one minute and seven seconds into the contest. He added a second goal at the 4:45 mark of the first quarter to give the Raiders a 3-1 lead.
Arapahoe held on early thanks to two first quarter goals by Will Danuser and another from Austin Shindoll in the second quarter which cut the deficit to 5-4 with 8:37 remaining in the first half.
But four different Raiders scored — Konkel, Matt Soran, Aaron Horvat and Chet Dunstan — as Regis rolled to a commanding 9-4 halftime lead, an unfamiliar position for Arapahoe the past few years.
The Warriors, who saw very few scoring opportunities early, found some holes in the Regis defense in the third and exposed them with four consecutive goals, two by University of Delaware commit Zach Runberg, a midfielder, to make it 10-8.
In the end, Regis had too much firepower and closed with six straight goals and an impressive victory.
“We scored, they scored, we just kept burying it on and they just couldn’t hang with us,” Konkel said after the game. “Everyone on offense played really well.”
Regis held possession most of the game and utilized their speed and athleticism to attack aggressively.
Konkel, a junior midfielder with size, led all scorers with five goals. Dunstan, Soran and Ben Bechter were all outstanding offensively for Regis.
(Brock Laue)
“Scoring-wise, it’s been balanced, which has been nice,” coach Soran said about one of his team’s strengths this season. “The goalie play has been exceptional. (Bret Quartuccio) has been one of the best I’ve seen and our faceoff guy, Alec Barnes, has been very consistent.”
“I would say we have the best offense in the state,” Konkel added. “Our defense is amazing, our goalie is really good, and we’ve got Ben (Bechter) also, and he’s just really good.”
The Raiders are now 9-0 this season, 6-0 in Colorado, with three strong wins over California opponents in the Golden State last week.
“The competition was great,” Soran said about the road trip. “Last year, Saint Ignatius was No. 1 in the West by the rankings for US Lacrosse, so we wanted to go play them. We had a good game there. I don’t think they’re as strong as they were last year, but they’re extremely well-coached and they’re always good. Bellarmine Prep is also a top-notch team. They’ll compete with St. Ignatius for their league championship this year, so we got a lot of good competition.
“I think we grew on the trip and it was a bonding thing for the team,” Soran concluded.
Arapahoe dropped to 6-1, but lost a group of 20 seniors off last year’s state title team and will look to regroup after a tough road loss. The Warriors could be scary later in the year.
Regis’ powerful, more experienced squad headlined Saturday’s game though. The Raiders’ first-rate offense, defense and overall talent was fully displayed Saturday afternoon, but Soran says there is much to improve upon.
“Early, we gave up some cheap goals and we had too many unforced turnovers,” Soran said. “We would like to get a little more aggressive on our ground balls. We weren’t really playing our ‘A’ game, so when you can win one like that, you feel like you still have some more work to do.”
Wild Card points help determine the postseason fields in 3A, 4A and 5A, with 4A and 5A also using them for seeding. Find a more detailed breakdown here.
Baseball’s Wild Card point standings for April 2 are below.
Chatfield joined the 5A baseball ranking at No. 6 this week. (Pam Wagner)
Just as seemingly the entire classification heads out of state for spring break tournaments, the Class 5A baseball rankings got a facelift. Four new teams joined CHSAANow.com’s poll this week, and others made big jumps.
Chatfield (No. 6), Columbine (No. 7), Arapahoe (No. 8) and Fairview (No. 10) all joined the 5A poll. The teams are a combined 11-1 to start the season.
ThunderRidge continued to lead that 5A poll, following an 8-7 win over then-No. 3 Grandview at Coors Field last week.
No. 2 Rocky Mountain also got a win at Coors Field last week, beating then-No. 7 Chaparral. The Lobos stayed put in second. Behind them, though, the change started.
Ralston Valley moved up three places from No. 6 to No. 3, and Regis Jesuit bumped up one spot to No. 4. Grandview rounds out the top five.
Three of the four newcomers are next, and then Cherry Creek is No. 9 after a tough 0-2 week. Fairview rounds up the top 10.
The change didn’t stop with 5A. In 4A, Montrose took over the top spot following its win over Valor Christian on Friday. Valor, last week’s No. 1 team, fell to No. 3. Windsor, 5-0 to start the season, is No. 2.
The 4A ranking added No. 7 Delta, No. 8 Niwot and No. 9 Palmer Ridge this week.
The No. 1 teams stayed the same in 3A (Holy Family), 2A (Resurrection Christian) and 1A (Stratton).
The 3A poll added No. 7 University and No. 8 The Classical Academy.
Teams Nos. 8-10 are all new in 2A: Peyton, Hotchkiss and Ignacio.
The lone newcomer to the 1A ranking was No. 9 Weldon Valley.
Because of the large number of out-of-state games this week, and thus, a lack of in-state competition, there won’t be new baseball polls until April 7.
Mountain Vista 18, Chaparral 17, Mullen 16, Dakota Ridge 14, Brighton 10, Legend 10, Monarch 6, Grand Junction 5, Fossil Ridge 4, Douglas County 3, Pine Creek 3.
Evergreen 13, Green Mountain 12, D’Evelyn 10, Lewis-Palmer 9, Skyline 8, Canon City 6, Durango 6, Elizabeth 6, Pueblo West 4, Northridge 3, Pueblo Central 3, Conifer 1, Montezuma-Cortez 1, Pueblo South 1.
Air Academy is the No. 1 team in this week’s girls lacrosse poll. (Via @AAHSAthletics on Twitter)
Air Academy, now 4-0 to start the season, has taken over the top spot in this week’s CHSAANow.com girls lacrosse rankings.
The Kadets went 3-0 last week, including an 18-12 win over then-No. 5 Arapahoe, and moved up one place from No. 2. They got four of the six first-place votes.
Wheat Ridge continued to lead the 4A boys lacrosse ranking. (Dennis Pleuss)
Things are tight atop the Class 5A boys lacrosse ranking this week.
Arapahoe held on to the top spot in the CHSAANow.com poll, though only leads No. 2 Regis Jesuit by one overall point. The Warriors got six first-place votes; Regis got five.
Cherry Creek stayed at No. 3 this week, while Colorado Academy and Kent Denver flipped spots in the top five.
Rock Canyon was the lone newcomer in 5A, joining at No. 9.
Wheat Ridge extended its run in 4A’s No. 1 spot. The Famers got all six first-place votes in that poll.
Valor Christian made a big jump in going from No. 5 to No. 2 following a close win over former No. 2 Aspen. Aspen dropped to No. 3 this week.
Thompson Valley also had a big leap, moving from eighth to fourth after beating then-No. 3 Cheyenne Mountain. Cheyenne Mountain is now fifth.
Conifer joined the 4A poll at No. 8.
The next new ranking will be out on April 7, due to the large number of out-of-state games this week, and thus, a lack of in-state competition.
