As Arapahoe walked onto the field at Saturday’s boys lacrosse quarterfinals, several players from undefeated Kent Denver encouraged the Warriors to take down Fort Collins.
For a quarter, it looked like the 2007 state champions might fall, but the Vipers’ physical play and goal-scoring machine Henry Miketa were too much for the Warriors, who fell 8-6. “We haven’t really found a team that’s as physical as us,” Miketa said. “I think it wears on teams.”
So does trying to keep up with Miketa. After Arapahoe took a 3-1 lead, Miketa responded with two of his team’s three goals in the second quarter for a 4-3 halftime lead. After the teams traded two goals apiece in the third quarter, Miketa controlled the final quarter, scoring two more goals.
Fort Collins moves one step closer to a possible rematch with Kent Denver in the state championship, with traditional power and 2005 and 2006 state champion Cherry Creek in the way.
Arapahoe 3 0 2 1 — 6
Fort Collins 1 3 2 2 — 8
Goals — FC: Miketa 4, Newman, Page, Arruabarrena, Woodman; A: Parietti 2, Law 2, Babb, Kamins.
Assists — FC: Arruabarrena 2, Miketa; A: Babb.
Cherry Creek 10, Douglas County 6
For a coach whose team advanced to the state semifinals, Cherry Creek’s Bryan Perry was not too pleased.
Instead of preparing a congratulatory speech to his Bruins following their victory over Douglas County, Perry was preparing a tongue-lashing.
“This team has been kind of up and down all year,” Perry said. “When we’re up, we’re as good as anybody. When we’re down, we don’t play very well.”
The Bruins showed their “up” in the fourth quarter. After Douglas County scored the lone goal in the third to pull to within 6-5, Cherry Creek controlled the ball almost the entire fourth quarter and scored four consecutive goals. Mike Beimford and T.J. McCauley hooked up for the first two.
Douglas County 2 2 1 1 — 6
Cherry Creek 1 5 0 4 — 10
Goals — CC: McCauley 4, Link 3, Beimford, Bailey, Price; DC: Jerlow 3, Luallen 2, Kerrigan.
Assists — CC: Beimford 2, Link; DC: Luallen, DeRosa, Hardardt.
Kent Denver 16, Mullen 5
Kent Denver went through the regular season undefeated and won by at least four goals in every game. It doesn’t look like the Sun Devils are up for a letdown in the postseason.
Other than faceoffs in the first half, Kent Denver dominated every aspect of the game in a 16-5 victory over Mullen.
Junior midfielder Patrick Murray scored four goals and had three assists, and fellow senior midfielder Michael Reilly added three goals and two assists.
Mullen 0 2 1 2 — 5
Kent Denver 2 6 4 4 — 16
Goals — KD: Murray 4, Cavness 3, Reilly 3, Strazza 2, Hanley 2, Key, Taylor; M: J. Smith 2, E. Smith, Guy, Wollenhaupt.
Assists — KD: Murray 3, Reilly 2, Taylor 2, Strazza, Flahive; M: Guy 2, Wollenhaupt, Kormondy.
Regis 10, Chatfield 2
Entering Saturday’s quarterfinals, Regis (11-4) and Chatfield (14-3) appeared to be the best matchup. But it was apparent early that this one was a mismatch as Regis rolled into the semifinals.
Chatfield 0 1 1 0 — 2
Regis 2 4 2 2 — 10
Goals — R: Konkel 3, Schmidt 2, Hardin 2, McConaty 2, Herda; C: Mi. Erickson, Kelsic.
Assists — R: Strode 2, Schmidt, McConaty, Gabrielson; C: Ma. Erickson.
