Greenwood Village – Cayel Dwyer told his Cherry Creek Bruins girls lacrosse team from the very beginning that this season was all about the journey.
It was one way to keep the Bruins motivated as they stomped through their last 10 games of the season, including the first three rounds of the state playoffs, by outscoring the competition by an average of 21-3. But as much fun as that part of the trip was, reaching the final destination had to be so much better.
Cherry Creek arrived at a 9-7 victory over Kent Denver on Wednesday night at the Stutler Bowl behind the quick reflexes of goalkeeper Katie Gold and the stellar play of a deep lineup. The Bruins avenged a loss to the Sun Devils in the second game of the regular season, as well a 10-8 loss in last season’s state championship.
The Bruins claimed a state-best fifth title since 1998, when the sport was first sanctioned.
“Our goal tonight was perfection. We saved the best for last,” said Gold, the game’s most valuable player. She will play for the University of Denver next season.
Liz Hart came off the bench to score two goals – the first and last for the Bruins (15-3) – and Allison Scholbe, Lise-Anne McLaughlin and Perrie White added two goals apiece.
Molly Parker of Kent Denver (18-1), one of the state’s top goal scorers, led everyone with four goals, all in the second half. The Sun Devils were state champions in 1998, 2002 and 2005.
Kent Denver opened the game on the offensive, controlling the draws and grabbing up groundballs while putting the early pressure on Gold. The speedy Danielle Kachulis opened the scoring 9 minutes into the game off an 8-meter possession penalty shot, beating Gold with a bouncer to her left side.
But the Bruins responded quickly when McLaughlin found Hart undefended in front of Kent Denver keeper Erin Tochihara. Hart zipped her shot to the top right corner of the net, and Cherry Creek then went on to score four more unanswered goals to take a 5-1 lead.
Both teams scored once more before the end of the half, but Dwyer knew the game was only beginning.
“We went in at halftime and I knew that 6-2 was not going to win this game. We’ve had issues starting games slow and finishing games slow, but no doubt about it this was our best game of the season from beginning to end,” Dwyer said.
Kent Denver came out firing in the second half as Parker scored two quick goals in less than 3 minutes to make the score 6-4. The Sun Devils nearly cut the deficit to one, but had a goal waved off.
“I think we were definitely nervous coming into this game. We were a bit frazzled and couldn’t get settled. We were also unlucky, hitting post after post after post, but we were able to turn it around mentally in the second half,” said Kachulis, who is bound for Dartmouth.
The Bruins scored twice to increase their lead, and Hart’s second goal with 3:38 left to play all but clinched the victory.
Cherry Creek 6 3 – 9
Kent Denver 2 5 – 7
First half – KD, Kachulis (unassisted), 16:10; CC, Hart (McLaughlin), 13:48; CC, Scholbe (unassisted), 10:30; CC, McLaughlin (Johnson), 9:25; CC, White (unassisted), 7:22; CC, Scholbe (Giancola), 5:39; KD, Cudahy (unassisted), 4:10; CC, Zimmerman (unassisted), 1:40.
Second half – KD, Parker (unassisted), 24:!2; KD, Parker (Cudahy), 22:12; CC, McLaughlin (unassisted), 20:25; CC, White (unassisted), 9:00; KD, Secora (Cudahy), 5:24; KD, Parker (unassisted), 4:28; CC, Hart, (unassisted), 3:38; KD, Parker (unassisted), :33.
Shots on goal – Cherry Creek 11-5 – 16; Kent Denver 9-10 – 19. Saves – Cherry Creek (Gold) 7-5 – 12; Kent Denver (Tochihara) 5-2 – 7. Groundballs – Cherry Creek 16-13 – 29; Kent Denver 21-10 – 31. Draws – Cherry Creek 3-3 – 6; Kent Denver 7-5 – 12.
