(Zach Fogg/CHSAANow.com)
AURORA — The Warriors made it tough, but in the end, Mountain Vista just had too much offense for Arapahoe.
On a cloudy afternoon from Legacy Stadium in Aurora, the Mountain Vista Golden Eagles (16-1 overall, 10-0 league) defeated the Arapahoe Warriors (10-6, 5-2) by a final score of 9-5 to move on to the Class 5A boys lacrosse semifinals. The Warriors had previously ended the Eagles’ season in the playoffs in each of the last two years.
“Yeah, it’s a great feeling to get this win,” said Mountain Vista head coach Jake Herman. “Knowing how things have ended for us the last two years – and this isn’t the top of the mountain for us either. The endgame is a championship.”
The third-seeded Golden Eagles took it to 11th-seeded Arapahoe from the opening faceoff, maintaining solid possession throughout the game and peppering Warriors goaltender Dylan Calkins with shots early and often.
“Having played them not that long ago actually worked in our favor,” said Herman. “We had a definitive gameplan going in and I really think that that made the biggest difference.”
The Arapahoe senior was equal to the challenge though, stymieing his opposition again and again. IN fact, by the time the dust had settled on the first half of play, the score was a mere 4-1 for the Eagles, despite their dominance on the field.
“We were really waiting for him to have a big game,” said Arapahoe coach Guy Cerasoli, “and there really isn’t a bigger time to have it than today.”
The one Mountain Vista player to solve Calkens in the half was senior captain Christian Barker, who notched a hat trick on his team’s first four goals.
And if Barker was the star of the first half, then fellow attacker Colin Munro was the star of the second half, which began with a slow fog drifting out over the playing field.
While the Warriors doubled their first half goal total in the third quarter on tallies by Chase Douglas and a second from Brian Wilson (who managed the only goal of the first half), Munro broke out with two goals in the third quarter and another just three minutes into the fourth, bringing his own total to four in the contest.
On Mountain Vista’s ninth tally, Calkens was injured in net for the Warriors and replaced by senior Ben Newell. And although the former netminder had stood on his head by most accounts, the Arapahoe defense seemed to play inspired in front of his replacement and were able to hold the Eagles scoreless over the final nine minutes and even adding two more goals of their own by Tanner Sparks to cut the lead to 9-5 in favor of the Golden Eagles.
That was as close as the Warriors would make it though, as time would expire before more of a comeback could be mounted.
“We really didn’t do anything different (from last time we played them),” said Cerasoli. “We just have to execute better. We didn’t execute today, so unfortunately, now it’s gotta wait until next year.”
For Mountain Vista, the win marks the first time in school history that the boys lacrosse team has made it to the semifinals.
“We’re not done. I can’t stress that enough,” Herman said. “After the way the last two years ended, the only thing that will satisfy this team is a state title.”