The road to the girls lacrosse state championship goes through Cherry Creek and Kent Denver. And, of late, Air Academy.
With a 13-12 win over Kent Denver in the semifinals Saturday at the University of Denver, the Kadets have reached the state final for the third time in four years — and have forced their way into the conversation about the state’s elite programs.
“I’ve got a team that’s trying to change the mindset that everything goes through Creek and Kent,” Air Academy coach Sean Harmon said.
His program can take another big step in the final, where it meets Cherry Creek, a runaway winner over Centaurus earlier Saturday.
The two teams will meet in the final for the third time in four years, and fourth time overall. The Bruins have won two of the previous three meetings, including last season, as part of their state-most nine championships.
“We respect them, and their talent,” Air Academy’s Erin Todd said.
Saturday, it was Todd who lifted the third-seeded Kadets to the final by scoring six of her seven goals in the second half. The teams were tied 4-4 at halftime, and Todd wasn’t involved in much.
“I knew I had to step it up a little bit and I had to calm down,” she said. So, “I relaxed, and I had better shot placement, and I put some mustard on it. That made the difference.”
Todd’s final goal put Air Academy up 13-10 with 4:25 to play, and the Kadets’ defense was able to hold off No. 2 Kent’s late rally.
Most of that was due in large part to the work of Air Academy’s Kayley Holmes on faceoffs. Time after time, the sophomore won crucial draws to give her team possession.
“Draws are everything,” Holmes said, “they are so much of possession.”
Holmes also had two goals.
“She’s phenomenal,” Harmon said. “She just came out and she made it a point that she wanted to win every (draw). … That’s the game. Possession, possession, possession.”
Luck Dikeou, Lucy Mower and Catherine Ellis each had three goals to lead Kent Denver.
Cherry Creek 25, Centaurus 15. Midway through the first half, with Cherry Creek’s offense heating up, play was stopped to repair a hole in the netting of the cage.Top-seeded Cherry Creek went on an 8-0 run in the final nine minutes of the first half to blow an 8-7 game wide open over No. 5 Centaurus in a rain-soaked semifinal.
Put there by the Bruins, perhaps?
“There wasn’t a point in the game where we lapsed and thought we won it,” said Mara Bandt-Law, who had seven goals and two assists.
Centaurus had played Cherry Creek close in a 21-18 loss May 1. Things were much different this time around.
The Bruins nearly put the mercy rule into effect in the first half,– but that would wait until three-and-a-half minutes had gone by in the second. At one point, the lead grew to 20-8.
Centaurus’ entered the game equipped for a high-scoring affair. Their star, Emma Lazaroff, entered as the leading scorer in the nation this season with 137 goals. She’s also Colorado’s all-time career scoring leader.
But the Bruins focused on winning draws and keeping possession away from Lazaroff and held her to six goals and two assists, most of her points coming with the game out of hand.
“She’s their most powerful player,” Bandt-Law said. “We just really practiced shutting down Emma.
They also gave her a shadow for the semifinal: Blair Sisk. The sophomore held Lazaroff to two goals midway through the second half.
Lazaroff came on strong toward the end and finished with six goals and two assists.
“Emma’s going to get her goals,” said Cherry Creek coach Cayel Dwyer. “That’s something that you regulate at the beginning, and we knew that was going to happen. But Blair shut her down, as much as you could expect anyone to do that to her.”
Anya Gersoff had six goals and five assists for Cherry Creek, while Tori Link had three goals.
Sarah Brown had four goals and an assist for Centaurus.
Ryan Casey, The Denver Post
