Englewood – After enduring a rare scoreless quarter and trailing by a goal with the league championship on the line, Kent Denver’s boys lacrosse team struck East’s defense like lightning – twice.
Sun Devils attacker Josh Reichert tied the score eight seconds after the fourth quarter faceoff, and minutes later he plucked a loose ball out of midair and rifled a pass to Alex Lockwood for the go-ahead goal to direct Kent Denver to a 5-3 victory over East on Friday at DeSorrento Field.
It all happened fast.
After Reichert tied the score at 3 with an assist from Ian Ferrell, the senior found himself in the right place at the right time. Standing to the right of East goalkeeper Piet Dudley’s net, Reichert watched teammate Tyler Morton put a shot into Dudley’s chest and Reichert was able to snare the ball up high.
Then, “I looked across the crease and Alex Lockwood was wide open. I tried to get it there as fast as I could,” said Reichert, who finished with a goal and three assists.
With Dudley trying to recover the defense of his left side, Lockwood looked at an open net and took the lead back for the Sun Devils.
“It was an unsettled situation. As soon as Josh picked up the ball I flashed to the cage. The goalie can’t be in two places at once,” Lockwood said.
True enough. Reichert would then assist on the game-clinching goal by Matt Kelsic with less than three minutes to play.
Kent Denver (12-0, 6-0) secured the Southern League title and will take a top seed into the playoffs with one game remaining in the regular season. East dropped to 12-1, 6-1 with two nonleague games remaining.
Sophomore Josh Russell scored all three of East’s goals, including one to put the Angels up a goal with 20.9 seconds left in the first half. But Kent Denver’s defense held East to just three shots on goal in the second half.
“The last (goal before the half) was important for us,” Russell said. “We wanted the momentum on our side, and I was fortunate enough to be on the end of the transition. In the second, basically they were playing good defense.”
Both goalkeepers played excellent games behind their defenses. Dudley and Kent Denver junior Max Pluss impressed with sliding, diving, stabbing saves, and they combined to stop 19 shots.
East 1 2 0 0 – 3
Kent Denver 1 1 0 3 – 5
Goals – E: Russell 3; KD: Ferrell 2, Reichert, Lockwood, Kelsic. Assists – E: Allison 2, Skaalerud; KD: Reichert 3, Lockwood, Ferrell.
Shots on goal – East 6-3-2-1 – 12; Kent Denver 3-2-4-6 – 15. Saves – East (Dudley) 2-1-4-3 10; Kent Denver (Pluss) 5-1-2-1 – 9.
