“Scoreboard,” they say, is the ultimate retort. But even the scoreboard couldn’t decide which way to turn Saturday at Barton Lacrosse Stadium.
Top-seeded Cherry Creek, a girls lacrosse juggernaut, has played in every championship game since the sport was sanctioned in Colorado in 1998. Denver East, though, edged the Bruins by a goal in the final regular season game.
And an 8-8 halftime score in Saturday’s state semifinals wasn’t helping to decide anything.
That’s when Caroline Perry stepped in. The Cherry Creek senior scored three goals in the second half to help the Bruins pull away from fourth-seeded East for an 18-11 semifinal victory minutes before lightning clouds rolled over the University of Denver campus.
Cherry Creek, winners of 10 state girls lacrosse titles, will play Wednesday at DU for an 11th, against the winner of Saturday’s afternoon’s Colorado Academy and Centaurus semifinal.
“I hate that statistic,” Bruins coach Kathryn Ames said of Creek’s streak of 18 consecutive finals appearances. “It’s a lot of pressure. It’s awesome, but also you don’t want to be that year.”
Perry finished with four goals, one shy of sophomore Eliza Radochonski’s game-high five for Cherry Creek. Holly Sutherland and Audrey Hummel added three apiece for the Bruins (12-2).
East (12-5) was led by Fair Romero and Maisie McGlynn, who each scored three.
Creek turned the second half tide into a rush of goals. Sutherland’s goal :13 seconds into the final frame put the Bruins ahead for the first time since midway through the first. Between Sutherland, Hummel (twice) and Perry, Creek scored four goals in the first two and a half minutes of the second.
East was every bit the match of Cherry Creek in the first. Angels sophomore goalie Lula Mitchell traded big saves — including a point-blank stop of Radochonski with :30 seconds left in the first.
But Creek’s rush was too much. The Bruins scored 10 goals on 12 shots in the second as their goalie, Sara McGuire, held strong.
“We knew the only way to beat them was to not make it close whatsoever,” said Perry, Creek’s season leading scorer with 63 goals. “We had to come out with full momentum and full fire. We knew this could be our last game.”
Denver East … 8 – 3 — 11
Cherry Creek … 8 – 10 — 18
Goals — East: Romero (3), McGlynn (3), Parks (2), Searles, Staker, Nick. Cherry Creek: Radochonski (5), Perry (4), Sutherland (3), Hummel (3), Schwartz, Adams, Kinney.
Shots — East, 18-9—27; Creek, 16-12—28. Saves — Mitchell, East, 8-2—10; McGuire, Creek, 10-6—16.
Nick Groke: ngroke@denverpost.com or
