Separated by 75 miles, Colorado Academy and Cheyenne Mountain are not natural rivals.
The schools share the same league in just one sport, boys lacrosse, but when the Mustangs and Indians take the same pitch, blood boils.
With the action equally heated on the field and the sidelines, Colorado Academy broke open an even game Wednesday with a flurry of goals late in the second quarter and a stifling defense throughout the second half.
Brian Kearney scored three goals and Carson Simms added two more as the Mustangs beat Cheyenne Mountain 9-5 in a Southern League game at Wright Field.
“Every league game is big for us this season,” Kearney said. “There are a lot of teams in our league that can sneak up on you, so we treat every game like it’s a big rivalry game.”
Colorado Academy improved to 4-0 overall and league while Cheyenne Mountain dropped to 4-2 and 2-2.
Kearney put the Mustangs on the board in the opening minutes by finishing an assist from P.J. O’Neil. O’Neil followed with an unassisted goal shortly after, and Colorado Academy led 4-1 after the first quarter.
But the Indians quickly evened the score, and Rob Oseth’s goal got it all started.
About 20 yards out in front of the goal, Oseth faked a pass to his left, fooling his defender and creating space to run the other direction. Oseth charged to his right and delivered a bullet shot past CA goalkeeper Cody Novack.
In the ensuing 38 seconds, Jesse Colton set up Drew Rees for consecutive goals to tie the game.
“We started to feel good and tied the score up,” said Rees, who scored three times. “We were in it at 4-4, but as soon as they started scoring a couple more goals we got nervous.”
Gage Pritchard broke the tie with time winding down in the first half, and Simms and Jake Corkin also scored to give the Mustangs a comfortable halftime lead.
“They were pressuring us, and we were a little tired,” Simms said. “But we didn’t give up. Our third line stepped up and our young guys stepped up. We got it done as a team.”
CA’s defense did not allow a shot on goal in the third quarter, and just two in the second half. On the other end, Cheyenne Mountain goalkeeper Kevin Jessup stopped six of the seven shots he faced in the second half.
Cheyenne Mountain 1 3 0 1 – 5
Colorado Academy 4 3 1 1 – 9
First quarter – CA: Kearney (O’Neil), 10:22; CA: O’Neil (unassisted), 9:05; CM: Rees (unassisted), 7:35; CA: Anderson (unassisted); 4:53. CA: Kearny (unassisted), 1:28. Second quarter – CM: Oseth (unassisted), 11:23; CM: Rees (Colton), 10:58; CM: Rees (Colton), 10:45; CA: Pritchard (Gallagher), 4:42; CA: Simms (Corkin), 2:25; CA: Singer (Corkin), 1:28. Third quarter – CA: Kearney (unassisted), 3:17. Fourth quarter – CA: Simms (O’Neil), 5:49; CM: Royce (Colton), 2:04.
Shots on goal – Cheyenne Mountain 3-7-0-2 – 12; Colorado Academy 6-8-6-2 – 22. Saves – Cheyenne Mountain (Jessup) 2-5-5-1 – 13; Colorado Academy (Novack) 2-4-0-1 – 7. Groundballs – Cheyenne Mountain 9-11-9-10 – 39; Colorado Academy 15-11-11-8 – 45.
