DENVER – Despite the dense fog that hung over Denver, everyone at Paul Barton Lacrosse Stadium could clearly see that Colorado Academy is still the dominant girls lacrosse program in the state.
The Mustangs fought their way to a 11-6 win over Regis Jesuit to finish their perfect season and claim their ninth straight girls lacrosse championship. It’s their third Class 5A title and they won each unclassified championship before that dating back to 2015. There was no 2020 championship because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This is CA’s ninth overall girls lacrosse title which is one shy of tying Cherry Creek for most in state history at 10.
“Who doesn’t want to beat Creek as the long standing winners of state championships,” coach Sonorah Hunter said. “We’re very close to that and I feel like that’s the legacy of Colorado Academy girls lacrosse and that’s what it’s going to be for years to come.”
The Mustangs (19-0 overall) struck early – and often – in the first half, scoring four goals before the Raiders even knew what hit them.
Alex May, Zoe Martin, Estella Geller and Addie Smith accounted for those first four scores. Emily Bradac got the Raiders on the board and ended the early run of CA goals.
But Martin countered quickly keeping momentum with the Mustangs. She ended the night with a team-high three goals, sharing that team lead with Charlotte Corkins. Her aggressiveness on the offense end is a big reason the Mustangs were the top seed on the bracket and is also a reason that the Mustangs have been constant winners over the last several seasons.
But sometimes that alone isn’t enough. So to keep the winning tradition at CA alive, the Mustangs got words of encouragement from those who had been there before.
“We fight all season,” Martin said. “We want to keep this up and keep winning. This year we got a lot of messages from alumni send us videos and that gave us a lot of inspiration to keep playing for the people who won before us and to play for the people that are going to win after us.”
Perhaps the scariest part about this Colorado Academy team is that only one player that has scored 20 or more goals is a senior. That’s Anna Colpack, who has 35 on the year, second-most behind Martin. But everyone one will return which only increases the possibility that the state championship streak could stretch to nine.
But that’s a tomorrow problem. Despite the fact that it’s the eighth straight title for CA, the players find a way to come into the season with ambition and motivation to reach the mountain top again. It’s something about the culture at the school that has allowed two full generations of high school players get to through their careers with state championship wins every season.
Perhaps more impressive is that since the start of the 2017-18 season, CA has lost just one game. That came last year when Kent Denver edged out a 12-11 win.
That loss is the only blemish on an otherwise impressive run of championships. A run that show no sign of slowing down anytime soon.
“I really want to end [my career] with four [titles],” Martin said. “That’s my main goal for next year.”
(Dan Mohrmann/ColoradoPreps.com)
