Littleton – The Arapahoe Warriors could have gone in one of two directions after their 11-game winning streak came to an abrupt end.
The Warriors chose to go forward in convincing fashion.
Arapahoe, No. 3 in The Denver Post/9News poll, jumped out to a huge lead and then hung on for a 15-9 nonleague victory over Smoky Hill on Wednesday at Newton Park. It was the final regular-season game for both.
“After the (loss) against Kent Denver on Monday, we were ready to go and ready to beat somebody,” Arapahoe junior Channing Ahbe said.
Ahbe had three goals and three assists, and teammate Adison Rounds added two goals and three assists to push the two-time Continental League champions’ record to 13-2.
No. 7 Smoky Hill (11-4) fell into a hole in the first half. Trailing 9-2 at halftime, Smoky Hill allowed three more goals on three shots to start the second half, and it appeared to be a blowout.
But Buffaloes junior Kristi Irgens single-handedly rallied her team with four consecutive goals in less than three minutes, bringing the Buffaloes to within 12-6 with more than 17 minutes remaining.
“I just knew that we couldn’t get down,” Irgens said. “We’ve been behind before, and we can always come back if we stick together as a team. We couldn’t make it all the way back today.”
Smoky Hill has been riding a roller coaster after winning nine of its first 10 games. The Buffaloes have gone 2-3 since.
After trailing 2-0 early, Smoky Hill was able to respond thanks to Monica Campos (two goals) and Irgens. The Buffaloes trailed 3-2 when things broke open.
“With all the practice we’ve put in on the attack, we wanted to make it at least look like we knew each other out there,” Rounds said. “We had some good connections.”
Arapahoe 9 6 – 15
Smoky Hill 2 7 – 9
First half – Rounds (Ahbe), A, 20:02; Spring (unassisted), A, 17:30; Campos (unassisted), SH, 13:54; Ahbe (unassisted), A, 13:02; Irgens (unassisted), SH, 10:47; Ahbe (unassisted), A, 9:18; Birlson (unassisted), A, 7:42; Hosek (Ahbe), A, 3:57; Rounds (Ahbe), A, 3:46; Birlson (Curtis), A, 2:48; O’Donnell (Rounds), A, :49.
Second half – Gerhard (Rounds), A, 24:04; Ahbe (unassisted), A, 23:49; Gerhard (Rounds), 21:25; Irgens (unassisted), SH, 20:15; Irgens (unassisted), SH, 19:17; Irgens (unassisted), SH, 18:11; Irgens (unassisted), SH, 17:32; Hosek (O’Donnell), A, 15:07; O’Donnell (unassisted), A, 10:35; Trujillo (unassisted), SH, 6:56; Campos (Dickinson), SH, 4:13; Spring (unassisted), A, 2:32; Irgens (unassisted), SH, :05.
Shots on goal – Arapahoe 15-7 – 22; Smoky Hill 5-12 – 17. Saves – Arapahoe (Ernsten) 3-5 – 8; Smoky Hill (Fairey) 6-1 – 7. Groundballs – Arapahoe 13-8 – 21; Smoky Hill 6-8 – 14.
