(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
DENVER — Chet Dunston had a big goal for every situation in the Class 5A boys lacrosse semifinals on Wednesday.
Dunston, a Raiders junior, scored a team-high five times in No. 2 Regis Jesuit’s 10-7 win over No. 6 Arapahoe at All-City Stadium. The first opened the scoring 1:02 into play. The second opened scoring in the second quarter, and made it 3-1 after Arapahoe had cut it to 2-1 near the end of the first.
In the third quarter, Dunston had a momentum-stealing finish on a breakaway which gave his team a 7-5 lead.
In the fourth, he had two big answer goals: one coming three minutes after Arapahoe cut it to 8-6, and another coming two-and-a-half minutes after the Warriors had made it 9-7.
Asked why he was so timely on Wednesday, Dunston paused, thought for a moment, then said, “I don’t know. Mostly the momentum picked up and you kind of just wanted to go.”
Said Raiders coach Jim Soran: “He had a big game. I’ll tell you what, I think other coaches underestimate him. He is such a competitor and he is such a good lacrosse player.”
Truett Davis added two goals for the Raiders, who also got two assists from Aaron Horvat. Ben Bechter had one goal and one assist, as well.
(Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
Arapahoe got two goals each from Will Danuser and Austin Shindoll. Zach Runberg had one goal and two assists.
Regis Jesuit advances to the title game for the first time since it won the championship in 2011. It will get a rematch with top-seeded Cherry Creek in the final. The two teams played April 29, a 10-7 Bruins win.
That day, “They took it to us,” Soran said. “So we’re going to try and redeem ourselves.”
Dunston was even more blunt.
“We played awful,” he said. “It’s a brand new game, get to start off on a new note, so it’ll be great. … It’s going to be a game. They’re always a great team. It’s going to be good.”
The two programs also met in the 2010 final, won by Creek.