ARVADA — A little rain, sleet and snow mix didn’t cool down Golden’s girls lacrosse team Thursday night at the North Area Athletic Complex.
The Demons (11-1, 3-0 in Class 4A West League) pushed their winning streak to five games cruising to a 13-3 victory over rival Green Mountain.
“Everyone was really up. We were all ready to go,” Golden senior midfielder Madeline Holunga said of facing a Rams team that just won the 4A state title two seasons ago. “I think getting up in the first half and getting that momentum kept us going.”
Holunga, freshman Katie Hufford and junior Ady Brickle gave the Demons a 3-0 lead in the first quarter. The Rams got on the board with a goal from junior Rome Villani late in the opening quarter, but Green Mountain (5-5, 0-2) could never close the gap as the Demons went on a 3-0 run to start the second quarter.
Hufford led all scorers with six goals in the big conference game.
Photo by Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Public Schools
“She (Hufford) is an amazing player. She is doing really well,” Holunga said of the freshman attacker scoring a single game career-high six goals. “She has got on the level that we are all on. She has adapted really fast.”
Holunga, Brickle and senior Callie Jo McClure all had a pair of goals for the Demons. Senior Brooke Miller scored her team-leading 30th goal of the season for Golden.
“We have been working all season on building a team first mentality,” Golden coach Robby McClure said. “We have a good crew of experienced seniors, also some inexperienced freshmen that are very talented.”
Green Mountain couldn’t get much going offensively and was held to a season-low three goals on the night.
“We have a plan for them (Green Mountain) and we worked all week on it,” Coach McClure said facing a potent Rams’ offense led by senior Kara Harris, Villani and sophomore Kya Cooper who have combined for 102 goals so far this season. “You look at the score, it worked.”
Golden junior goalie Ruby Lucken picked up the win in net. The Demons’ lone loss this season with to defending 4A state champion and undefeated Mead (10-0) a few weeks ago.
The Demons are attempting to win their first conference title since 2008. Golden finishes off its league schedule against Evergreen and Mullen next week. The showdown against Evergreen (5-3, 1-0) on Tuesday, April 23, at NAAC could very well decided the league title.
“As a senior that is really all you want,” Holunga said of the conference title. “You want to leave it all out there. You just have one more try.”
Evergreen and Green Mountain have both had state success coming out of the 4A West League in recent years. The Cougars won the 4A state title in 2021 and have advanced to the state semifinals the past two years. The Rams won the 4A state title in 2022 and also made the semifinals last year.
Golden believes it is the Demons turn to make a state run.
“One of our goals this year was to win league and then move on to state,” Coach McClure said. “That is still our plan.”
