Raiders claim title, downing Sun Devils
Regis Jesuit, a year after losing to Cherry Creek on the same field, won its fourth state lacrosse title Friday with a 10-4 victory over Kent Denver at Mile High Stadium.
Junior attack Jake Taylor led the Raiders with three goals, and senior attack Anders Erickson had two goals and an assist. Five other Regis players scored in the program’s third consecutive appearance in the state title game. The Raiders won the 2016 title and have now captured the crown four times in the past eight years.
“We’ve had a lot of guys who’ve won, a lot of guys who’ve lost, so coming into this game, we knew what the tone was going to have to be for us to win, and the guys really rallied around it,” Erickson said.
Regis finished 18-1, with its only loss to Torrey Pines of San Diego on March 26. The Raiders defeated Kent Denver on April 25 in a 15-13 thriller.
Regis coach Jim Soran said his experienced team feeds off senior goalie Matt McCarthy, who had eight saves Friday.
“We have great senior leaders and they came in with a mission at the beginning of the year. It took a lot of hard work to do it, but they really wanted it,” Soran said. “Last year in this game, it knotted everybody, I think — left a bad taste in our mouths. We wanted to come back here and be champions again.”
The Sun Devils (15-4) were looking for
their sixth state title, and first since 2008. The were led Friday by senior attack Ryan Bergner, who had two goals.
Erickson — who also helped lead Regis to the recent state hockey championship — scored his 32nd and 33rd goals of the season to give the Raiders leads of 3-1 and 4-1. He scored the only goal of the second quarter, after the Raiders got goals from long-stick midfielder Charlie Maly to open the scoring and Reed Babcock to make it 2-1 early.
“It’s a little surreal right now,” Erickson said of winning hockey and lacrosse state titles as a senior. “Hasn’t really set in yet. But it’s unreal. I’m pretty speechless right now. Hard to formulate.”
Up 4-1 at halftime, Regis’ lead grew to 5-1 when Taylor struck for his first goal of the game 54 seconds into the third quarter. But Kent Denver answered with two goals — the latter from Ryan Bergner, who intercepted a pass intended for McCarthy before beating the goalie with a move atop the crease.
Regis led 8-3 after three quarters, and Taylor had two of the three goals in the final frame.