GREENWOOD VILLAGE — Mark it down as one of the more thorough thrashings handed from one to the other in Colorado’s top rivalry.
Cherry Creek led early and often Thursday before running away to a convincing 19-5 victory over Mullen at the Stutler Bowl in the girls lacrosse state quarterfinals.
The Bruins, Colorado runners-up a year after winning the previous three titles, will take a 17-0 record into Saturday’s semifinals against Columbine at the University of Denver.
As has been the case across the sports’ board between the two programs, they met during the regular season, then had a rematch in the postseason. But a tie game late that ended in a 16-13 victory by Cherry Creek on April 21 was vastly different from Thursday’s. This one was all Bruins, and from start to finish.
“We barely came through. It was a good game,” Cherry Creek senior attack Kameryn Downing said of the teams’ first meeting. However, she added, “we knew we had our hands full, but we knew how to handle them. After having such a close call, we realized how much we wanted it.”
Apparently, the Bruins really wanted it. They motored to a 3-0 lead within the first five minutes, increased it to 11-2 by halftime, then played the entire second half under the mercy rule (a running clock with a 10-goal difference).
Downing, who will play next season at Boston University, was involved with much of it, pacing the Bruins with a game-high five goals and adding an assist. She had plenty of help from Shelby Barrett (four goals, two assists), Bailey Zerr (three goals, two assists), Anya Gersoff (three goals and an assist) and Annie Anton (two goals, three assists).
Generally, Cherry Creek did whatever it wanted. The Bruins won draws, picked up groundballs, ran freely with the ball, regularly came down the slot for shots, displayed crisp passing and defended well enough to keep Mullen from challenging.
“I think that was one of our best all-around games, and that’s nice to have,” Bruins coach Cayel Dwyer said.
Conversely, Mullen, which ended 9-7, got behind and never recovered. Madi Khanna scored twice, but it wasn’t nearly enough.
“Cherry Creek stepped up to play its best game, and we didn’t,” Mullen coach Steph Coyne said. “I think (the Bruins) intimidated us. They outplayed us, capitalized on every single mistake we made.”
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Mullen 2 3 — 5
Cherry Creek 11 8 — 19
Goals — CC: Downing 5, Barrett 4, Gersoff and Zerr 3, Anton 2, Boone, Erickson; M: Khanna 2, Anderson, O’Neal, Richardson. Assists — CC: Anton 3, Barrett and Zerr 2, Downing, Gersoff; M: none.
