(Brock Laue)
AURORA — In a heavyweight bout between two elite boys lacrosse programs, No. 2 Regis Jesuit delivered a knockout punch with back-to-back goals to end the third quarter and give the Raiders a 12-8 lead over No. 1 Arapahoe. Regis sealed the victory with smothering defense to beat the two-time defending Class 5A state champion Warriors 16-8 on Saturday afternoon at Lou Kellogg Stadium in front of Regis’ home fans.
In a rematch of a semifinal playoff game last year — a contest Arapahoe won 13-5 — Regis wanted revenge against one of their great rivals.
“It’s always good to beat Arapahoe. They knocked us off in the playoffs last year and we never forgave them for it,” Regis coach Jim Soran said with a laugh.
(Brock Laue)
Saturday’s game was marked by runs and momentum shifts. Regis started hot with a goal by Chase Konkel one minute and seven seconds into the contest. He added a second goal at the 4:45 mark of the first quarter to give the Raiders a 3-1 lead.
Arapahoe held on early thanks to two first quarter goals by Will Danuser and another from Austin Shindoll in the second quarter which cut the deficit to 5-4 with 8:37 remaining in the first half.
But four different Raiders scored — Konkel, Matt Soran, Aaron Horvat and Chet Dunstan — as Regis rolled to a commanding 9-4 halftime lead, an unfamiliar position for Arapahoe the past few years.
The Warriors, who saw very few scoring opportunities early, found some holes in the Regis defense in the third and exposed them with four consecutive goals, two by University of Delaware commit Zach Runberg, a midfielder, to make it 10-8.
In the end, Regis had too much firepower and closed with six straight goals and an impressive victory.
“We scored, they scored, we just kept burying it on and they just couldn’t hang with us,” Konkel said after the game. “Everyone on offense played really well.”
Regis held possession most of the game and utilized their speed and athleticism to attack aggressively.
Konkel, a junior midfielder with size, led all scorers with five goals. Dunstan, Soran and Ben Bechter were all outstanding offensively for Regis.
(Brock Laue)
“Scoring-wise, it’s been balanced, which has been nice,” coach Soran said about one of his team’s strengths this season. “The goalie play has been exceptional. (Bret Quartuccio) has been one of the best I’ve seen and our faceoff guy, Alec Barnes, has been very consistent.”
“I would say we have the best offense in the state,” Konkel added. “Our defense is amazing, our goalie is really good, and we’ve got Ben (Bechter) also, and he’s just really good.”
The Raiders are now 9-0 this season, 6-0 in Colorado, with three strong wins over California opponents in the Golden State last week.
“The competition was great,” Soran said about the road trip. “Last year, Saint Ignatius was No. 1 in the West by the rankings for US Lacrosse, so we wanted to go play them. We had a good game there. I don’t think they’re as strong as they were last year, but they’re extremely well-coached and they’re always good. Bellarmine Prep is also a top-notch team. They’ll compete with St. Ignatius for their league championship this year, so we got a lot of good competition.
“I think we grew on the trip and it was a bonding thing for the team,” Soran concluded.
Arapahoe dropped to 6-1, but lost a group of 20 seniors off last year’s state title team and will look to regroup after a tough road loss. The Warriors could be scary later in the year.
Regis’ powerful, more experienced squad headlined Saturday’s game though. The Raiders’ first-rate offense, defense and overall talent was fully displayed Saturday afternoon, but Soran says there is much to improve upon.
“Early, we gave up some cheap goals and we had too many unforced turnovers,” Soran said. “We would like to get a little more aggressive on our ground balls. We weren’t really playing our ‘A’ game, so when you can win one like that, you feel like you still have some more work to do.”