CELEBRATION A-BRUIN
Valor Christian repeats in 4A, again beating Dawson School
Members of the Cherry Creek lacrosse team storm the field Friday night after the Bruins beat Regis Jesuit 17-8 to capture the 5A state championship at Sports Authority Field at Mile High in Denver.
Save for a rare turnover or errant shot, Cherry Creek appeared unbeatable Friday night at Sports Authority Field at Mile High, where the Bruins dominated Regis Jesuit in winning their record sixth state lacrosse championship.
In the night’s second consecutive matchup pitting No. 1 against No. 2 — in the first, Valor Christian upset Dawson School in the Class 4A title game — the 5A top-ranked Bruins never trailed and cruised to a 17-8 triumph over the defending champions.
Regis (14-4) handed Cherry Creek (17-1) its only loss early in a season, winning 14-11 on March 15 in Aurora.
“We told our guys after that game, ‘Embrace the gift of failure,’ and that’s exactly what they did,” Bruins coach Bryan Perry said. “We just went and got better. We fixed some things and not too long after that we were playing our best lacrosse.”
Cherry Creek led 5-1 after the first quarter, 9-2 at halftime and 14-4 heading into the fourth quarter. At that point, the Bruins didn’t allow consecutive Regis goals, and after the Raiders went on a threegoal run early in the fourth, Cherry Creek matched that to go ahead 17-6.
It was the third championship meeting in the last four years between the teams, with Regis winning the title in 2014 and Cherry Creek in 2015. The Raiders defeated Arapahoe in the title game a year ago.
Senior attacks Asher Nolting and Alex Bildstein and junior attack Henry Savage each had three-goal hat tricks and eight others scored for the Bruins. Junior goalie Knox Dent was outstanding.
The Raiders were led by sophomore attack Jake Taylor, who had two goals.
4A: Valor Christian 20, Dawson School 12. In a state championship rematch, a surprising blowout unfolded.
Second-seeded Valor Christian scored nine consecutive goals midway through the game and went on to stun No. 1 Dawson School and win its second consecutive 4A title.
Valor Christian’s 20 goals were a championship game record, regardless of classification, and the Eagles’ 12-goal lead (18-6) early in the fourth quarter led to a running clock before Dawson scored six of the last seven goals.
Valor, which lost to Dawson 11-10 in the regular season, trailed 2-0 and 3-2 early before outscoring the Mustangs 11-1 from the 1:20 mark of the first quarter to 9:08 of the third.
“We just figured out that we need to play our game; don’t let them dictate from what we do,” said Valor sophomore attack Lance Tillman, who had four goals and a game-high eight points. “It feels amazing. All the hard work paid off. We really meshed as a team and that’s why this championship feels so good.”
A year ago on the same field, Valor beat Dawson 10-9 in a nail-biting championship game.