ENGLEWOOD — Fear the Warriors, especially when they get dialed in.
Arapahoe looked to be embroiled in another struggle with Regis on Wednesday until the top-seeded Warriors came out in the second half and flat-out dominated en route to an 11-5 state semifinal victory.
The second-half binge: A 7-0 scoring run, a 10-2 shot advantage and a berth in Saturday’s state championship game at Invesco Field.
“We have the greatest defense in the state right now,” Warriors goalie Ryan Elliott said. “We play team ball and just make everyone fear us.”
The Warriors (15-3) jumped out to a 2-0 lead but in the second quarter were reeled in by the fifth-seeded Raiders (11-6), who led 5-4 at halftime at Englewood Stadium.
Then it all changed. The Warriors, who were 0-for-2 on man advantages in the first half, scored on their first two man advantages in the third quarter and were up and cruising at 7-5.
The Warriors were extremely physical on defense, cornering and corralling Regis’ attackers and forcing regular turnovers.
Eric Law scored three goals and dished out three assists, and junior Greg Colosimo bagged three goals for the Warriors. Ryan Parietti added two goals and two assists, and Hunter Hall had one goal and one assist.
Elliott made two saves in the second half.
“We decided it wasn’t going to be our day to lose,” Colosimo said. “We’ve got too many seniors and a will to win.”
It was a far cry from Arapahoe’s 6-5 win over Regis in the regular season.
The Raiders, who got two goals from C.J. Schmidt and two assists and one goal from Chase Gabrielson, could not stop the tide once it turned against them.
“We dominated, pretty much, possession time, faceoffs — everything you need to win the half,” Schmidt said. “In the second half they got a couple quick goals, and we just couldn’t bounce back.”
