LITTLETON — Nautically speaking, the Heritage/Littleton Gryphons were listing with the have-nots of girls lacrosse a few years ago.
Uneventful playoff runs and four coaches in four seasons tend to have that effect.
Then coach Nikki Kucharski arrived as captain, life preserver and first mate to the co-op squad. Without any star additions, the Gryphons played Cinderella all the way to the state final last year, when they were unable to stop Cherry Creek’s quest for a third straight title.
What’s the encore? How about a 10-2-1 record this season? The losses are to top-ranked Cherry Creek and a senior-loaded Air Academy — last season’s No. 2 playoff seed and the victim of arguably the Gryphons’ biggest upset.
Although lacrosse was a big part of Kucharski’s life, she didn’t set out to be a coach. Now working with the nonprofit Mile High Ministries, Kucharski is more motivated by helping people.
Funny how it all comes together.
“The team had a lot of potential and a lot of desire; they just didn’t know how good they were,” said Kucharski, who played on Cherry Creek’s 1999 title-winning team before walking on at Delaware, where she was team captain her senior season.
“We had two All-Americans, but the team as a unit definitely didn’t think they were capable of being a top-10 team,” she said.
Kucharski says she didn’t teach the Gryphons anything revolutionarily new. She has simply brought stability, encouragement and support, which ranges from motherly to big-sisterly.
“When Nikki came here, we had this whole new feeling around us,” said senior standout Liz Datino, who shares the team captaincy with Kayla Cartwright and Liz Mann. “Like a new positive outlook.”
That made them the new girls at the lacrosse country club mixer.
“Desire can carry you really far,” Kucharski said. “They were surprised after every game we won.”
In a way they’re still the fresh faces this season, considering that two girls moved on to Division I programs — including an all-state goalie — and the rest of the defense graduated.
Some of the youth in the defensive end was exposed in Tuesday’s 19-4 humbling dished out by Air Academy. Individual assignments were blown, and help was late in arriving, which opened junior goalie Jenna Pauline to the Kadets’ onslaught.
The Gryphons’ transition game was slowed to a jog, while Datino and Anna Salemo were neutralized.
While the defense was rung up for 24 goals in a loss last month to Cherry Creek, the Gryphons’ offense did manage 12 goals — the most the Bruins have allowed to an in-state opponent all season.
Being a team with eight underclassmen, the Gryphons are prone to some good and bad habits. On the one hand, they listen and don’t have many problems applying in games what they practice. On the other hand, they start slow and might rely too much on their second-half burst to save them.
In the bigger picture, Kucharski and the Gryphons seem to love having each other.
“It’s been an amazing gift,” Kucharski said. “I love hanging out with the girls and getting to know them. I think girls in high school need a consistent adult role model other than their parents. It’s fun to see that. . . . We have some good quality characters on our team.”
