Kent Denver was dominated by East most of the first half Saturday, but it took only the first 16 seconds of the third quarter of the boys lacrosse game for the Sun Devils to turn the tide.
Kent Denver, which somehow managed to stay within a goal of the Angels at the half, found itself with a two-man advantage to open the third quarter. Sun Devils attack man Josh Reichert exploited East’s undermanned defense, going top shelf to beat goalie Ben Brown and tie the game. From there, the Sun Devils cruised to a 9-5 victory at All-City Stadium.
Two-time defending state champion Kent Denver controlled East down the stretch to win the Southern Conference.
“I think it was a big factor that we scored then, when we were two men up,” Kent Denver coach Tom Graesser said of Reichert’s tying goal. “There was a big momentum shift. We set something up in the locker room, and it worked.”
The Angels (10-3, 6-1) displayed a polished, deliberate offense early and built a 3-0 lead. But Sun Devils goalie Max Pluss was spectacular in the first quarter, allowing only two goals and making five saves.
Kent Denver (11-3, 7-0) got on the scoreboard when defenseman Matt Kelsic picked off a pass at midfield and set up a goal by Ian Ferrell with a nifty pass on the fast break. Ferrell and Reichert each had three goals to lead the Sun Devils.
East got into penalty trouble as time wound down in the second quarter and heavy snow began to fall. Already down a man, timekeeping errors led Angels coach Jon Barocas to draw a penalty with just four seconds left on the clock. The two-man deficit proved more than East could handle in the opening seconds of the third quarter.
“The refs sometimes do make a difference in the game,” said Barocas, who celebrated the 300th victory of his career earlier in the week against George Washington. “They had no idea what was going on because the clock was running improperly, and I think that had a lot to do with how we started the third quarter.”
Kent Denver outscored the Angels 5-1 after that, controlling the offensive tempo and forcing East to take chances on an increasingly slick field.
“The guys weren’t able to move very well (because of the conditions), and Kent slowed down the ball,” Barocas said. “They wouldn’t have scored a couple of their goals, but we became very aggressive to go after them and get the ball.”
East closes its regular season this week against Cherry Creek and Regis. Kent Denver hosts Arapahoe on Wednesday.
“We finally got to put some balls in the goal and got the momentum going our way,” Reichert said. “Not only is this great momentum for the playoffs, it’s great for our team as a whole.”
Kent Denver 0 3 2 4 – 9
East 2 2 0 1 – 5
Goals: Kent Denver – Ferrell 3, Reichert 3, White 2, Morton; East – Skaalerud 2, Tedeshci 2, Clark. Assists: Kent Denver – Reichert, Kelsic; East – Allison, Clark, Hild, Russell, Skaalerud.
