Colorado Academy picked a good day to play the best game of its season.
And the team’s confidence was soaring after a 21-9 victory over Mullen in the quarterfinal round of the girls state lacrosse playoffs at home Wednesday, so it is possible its next best game could come in the semifinals.
“This was one of the strongest starts we’ve had. It was very cool to get a big lead like that,” said sophomore Morgan Miller, who had three goals and three assists in the victory. “Our coach (Emily Leary) said this was our best game of the season and I totally agree with her.”
Holly McHugh led the charge with seven goals for Colorado Academy (21-2), and Callie Lawrence scored another five goals. Goalkeeper Michelle Pav finished the game with seven saves, including a quick pair in the final minutes of action to put an exclamation point on the performance.
Mullen (12-9) was paced by Meg Zeman’s four goals, and Kellie Campbell added two more.
Colorado Academy’s Logan Brown opened the scoring in the first 10 seconds of the game, and Lawrence brought the score to 2-0 with just a little more than a minute gone.
“I think we came out really strong today. We just really wanted it,” said Brown, who scored three goals and an assist.
Only eight minutes had passed when Colorado Academy appeared to be on the verge of a blowout. The score was 7-1 and Mullen looked flat-footed and a bit dejected.
But Mullen rallied to cut the deficit to three goals at the half, 8-5. The momentum stayed with Mullen when Savannah Khanna scored a goal in the first 30 seconds of the second half.
But Colorado Academy’s lull was over, and it rattled off five goals in a row to take back a comfortable lead.
“They just knew that they had to play their best game today,” Leary said.
Mullen 5 4 – 9
Colorado Academy 8 13 – 21
Goals – Zeman 4, Campbell 2, Kannah Weatherman; McHugh 7, Lawrence 5, Brown 3, Miller 3, Hamersky, Peterson, Robinson.
Assists – Campbell, Khanna, McMorris; Miller 3, Brown, Hamersky, Lawrence, McHugh. Shots on goal – Mullen 8-8 – 16; Colorado Academy 12-17 – 29. Saves – Mullen (Konishi) 4-4 – 8; Colorado Academy (Pav) 3-4 – 7.
