Golden – Will Cantwell and the Golden boys lacrosse team have their eyes fixed on the future, but the Demons did not overlook the present.
Cantwell scored five goals and assisted on six more to give Golden a 17-3 victory over Fairview on Tuesday in the second round of the playoffs.
Golden (14-2) has made the playoffs six years in a row and picked up a handful of postseason victories. But with 17 seniors and a leap forward in confidence this season, the Demons want a spot in the final four.
“Our defense is the strength of our team, and we need them to play the way they did today on Saturday,” Cantwell said. “That is a really big opportunity for us to get in the final four.”
Golden will play the winner of today’s game between Heritage and Colorado Academy.
Cantwell and the Demons may be itching to move forward, but they did not look past Fairview (9-7), which has been in the playoffs three years running. Instead, Golden scored four goals on its first five shots, with the first two from Cantwell.
The Knights settled down and Zach Molden took a pass from Brian Kearney to put the team on the board in the first quarter.
But Cantwell led the charge in the second quarter, contributing on all three goals by making one and setting up the other two. The last goal of the half was produced by the Cantwell brothers – Will Cantwell to Luke Cantwell.
“We have a young team, and once we start playing the way we know how to play we will be much better,” Fairview coach Tom Knight said.
The Demons jumped out to a 13-3 lead to trigger a running clock for the last few minutes of the third quarter and the rest of the fourth. That final quarter belonged to Luke Baruch, who scored three consecutive goals.
“This group of seniors has been playing together since eighth grade, so we are a much smarter team,” said Baruch, who contributed four goals and an assist.
Golden coach Mike Thumim echoed those words.
“It helps to have seniors,” he said. “They’ve been in the playoffs every year of high school, so they are used to this atmosphere.”
Fairview 1 0 2 0 – 3
Golden 4 3 6 4 – 17
Goals – F: Jaffee, Knight, Molden; G: W. Cantwell 5, Baruch 4, Larson 3, Bridges, L. Cantwell, Morelli, Robinson, Secora. Assists – F: Kearney 2; G: W. Cantwell 6, Larson 2, Robinson 2, Baruch, Pollock, Secora, Wilson.
Shots on goal – Fairview 9; Golden 25. Saves – Fairview (Erickson) 3, (Deemer) 5; Golden – (Bockman) 6, (Shatz) 0.
