It’s been a long time since Arapahoe boys lacrosse has lost to an in-state foe. One hundred and fifty nine days, to be exact.
It’s also been a long time since Arapahoe has played a game.
“Let me look at the calendar here for a bit,” Arapahoe coach Guy Cerasoli said from the other end of the phone.
You could hear papers shuffle.
“It was April,” he said.
More shuffling.
“It was a long time ago,” Cerasoli said. A pause. “It’s been a long layoff.”
It’s been since April 24, a 17-9 win over Grandview. And the 2 1/2-week break presented one of the lone challenges Arapahoe has faced all season.
“Keeping them centered, focused and staying fit and match-ready,” Cerasoli said.
Arapahoe’s defense of its championship gets underway in earnest tonight. Coming off a first-round bye, the top-seeded Warriors (16-1) await No. 22 Ponderosa (9-7) at 6 p.m. at Littleton Public Schools Stadium. Ponderosa upset No. 11 Air Academy last Friday, 10-6.
If the postseason mirrors its regular season counterpart, the Warriors may be marching toward hosting another trophy on May 22.
Aside from one game — a 7-6 win over Cherry Creek — Arapahoe has yet to be pushed by in-state competition this season.
Its average margin of victory against Colorado foes is nine goals. It’s won 11 games by five goals or more. There’s also that in-state winning streak, which now spans 28 games. (The lone loss this season was a 12-10 defeat to nationally-ranked Highland Park of Texas.)
Yet there was one question that hovered above the team heading into 2010: How will Arapahoe handle the loss of 18 seniors from last year’s state championship team?
“We really did expect that it was … going to be a very difficult year, getting the team to get over last year’s success, and loss of so much talent and so many key players,” Cerasoli said. “There were so many big shoes to fill.”
Still, this year’s squad featured 11 seniors, and even though only three have played in the majority of the team’s games, they’ve had a huge impact.
Greg Colosimo has a team-high 40 goals. Hunter Hall has 35, and also has added 19 assists. Dylan Leary has 18 goals.
Together, they’ve combined to have a role in 63 percent of Arapahoe’s scoring.
“This year’s seniors have really stepped up as leaders and really brought the younger kids and the younger guys along and instilled confidence in them,” Cerasoli said. “It’s a completely different team; it’s a completely different energy. But at the same time, it’s a really positive energy. They’ve really come together, and we’re really, really close-knit.”
That makes this year’s team similar to last year’s.
“We’re at the same spot we were last year,” he said. “It’s a testament to the seniors and the leaders that’ve brought everybody along. It’s a very inclusive environment.”
During the long break between games, Arapahoe scheduled two scrimmages: Air Academy and Littleton. Both those teams were upset in the first round Friday.
“That’s kind of frightening, because those guys looked really good,” Cerasoli said. “I think that might be a little bit of a wakeup call to our players because we thought that Littleton and Air Academy looked pretty strong in the scrimmage against us, and they go and lose to lower-seeded opponents — one of which we’re playing tonight.”
Arapahoe may have to deal with either No. 2-seeded Cherry Creek or No. 3 Colorado Academy in the final — two teams built to handle the Warriors explosive offense.
Cherry Creek has already demonstrated that it can play with Arapahoe. In that 7-6 loss on April 21, Creek actually led 3-2 at the half. Perhaps more alarming for the Warriors was the fact that after Arapahoe exploded for five goals in the third quarter, the Bruins didn’t fold, but instead rallied for two goals in the fourth to cut the score to 7-6.
“We really dodged a bullet there,” Cerasoli said. “They dominated almost every aspect. We had an off day, (but) they had more of an off day and we lucked out.”
Colorado Academy, whose defense is coached by Dan Pratt, defensive coordinator for the Colorado Mammoth of the National Lacrosse League, is giving up 3.2 goals per game. Cherry Creek is giving up 5.1.
A matchup No. 4 Chatfield potentially awaits Arapahoe in the semifinals. The Chargers are giving up just 3.3 goals per game.
Arapahoe’s defense isn’t exactly something to sneeze at — the Warriors average just 5.7 goals against — but its strength is undoubtedly its experience, and its confidence.
“(Our team) is not shying away and they’re not saying, ‘Everybody’s out to get us,'” Cerasoli said. “It’s more like: ‘It’s ours to lose.’ It’s their’s to win. It’s not ours to win. It’s ours to defend.”
Ryan Casey: 303-954-1294 or rcasey@denverpost.com
