The first high school lacrosse game at Invesco Field at Mile High on Saturday was a thriller for players and fans alike.
Amid splendid afternoon weather and on perfectly manicured grass that’s typically stomped on by Denver’s beloved NFL team, the East boys held on in a back-and-forth affair to defeat defending state champion Cherry Creek 7-6 in the opening game of the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse Showdown.
Angels goalie Piet Dudley made his 10th and final save with five seconds to play, halting Cherry Creek’s second rally of the second half to give East a 10-0 record on the season. The Bruins (9-2) scored the game’s final two goals after East went ahead 7-4 with 7:16 to play.
“This is unbelievable,” longtime Angels coach Jon Barocas said while the club teams from Colorado and Colorado State were warming up for the evening’s second contest. “This is like playing back East in some of the nice stadiums back there. This is a really unique experience for our guys, and, hopefully, we’re going to do this Showdown every year between us and them.”
Sophomore attack Joshua Russell paced East with two goals, including the game-winner that made it 7-4. Teammate Kjael Skaalerud, a senior attack, had a goal and two assists for the Angels, who lost to Cherry Creek in last year’s state playoffs.
“All my Little League years I’ve been beating Creek and everything, then my freshman year we lost,” Russell said. “This year is a big year for me and my team to come out and redeem ourselves. So it was a big game for us. We had our head on straight after a good week of practice.”
Cameron Kerr and Peter Hoselton each had two goals for Cherry Creek, which is 9-3 including a loss in Long Island, N.Y. Goalie Mark Stone made eight saves.
“It was a great experience,” Bruins coach Bryan Perry said. “It kind of goes out the window as soon as the whistle blows and the game’s on, but it was still a great atmosphere. We would have liked to come out with a win, but this is something our guys will remember for a long time.”
East 1 2 1 3 – 7
Cherry Creek 1 1 2 2 – 6
Goals: East – Russell (2), Allison, Tedeschi, Skaalerud, Connor, TallBull; CC – Kerr (2), Hoselton (2), Will, Platt. Assists: East – Skaalerud (2), Bailey. CC – R. Driver. Saves: East – 10 (Dudley). CC – 8 (Stone).
* This story has been corrected. Because of incorrect information supplied by East High School, this story incorrectly referred to the East lacrosse goalie as Dudley Piet instead of Piet Dudley.
