DENVER — After dominating on offense in the first quarter and controlling defense through the second Monday night, Cheyenne Mountain boys lacrosse likely didn’t predict they were headed for a triple-overtime thriller with Evergreen in the Class 4A state championship game. But the Red-Tailed Hawks watched as their 5-0 lead dwindled to a 6-6 tie at the end of the regular.

On the opening face-off of the third overtime, Colt Kugler picked up the dump off a draw and ran half the field, chopping in the sudden-victory score to Cheyenne Mountain to its fifth title in program history.

“I picked it up and saw green,” Kugler said. “I knew if I got the ball in overtime, I was going to the rack and I did just that. Happy with the way it ended.”

Red-Tailed Hawks coach Sequoia Bowan said the team was frustrated and driven by their No. 9 seed, which forced them to travel after the opening round — including a second-round long haul to Steamboat Springs. But every upset by Cheyenne Mountain was by multiple goals, like a 17-6 thrashing of top-seeded Air Academy and a 10-5 doubling up of No. 5 Lutheran in the semifinals.

“We talked about how we were slept on as a No. 9 seed,” Bowan said. “Having to go all the way up to Steamboat and a couple weeks ago, at Air Academy. We came here, put some work in and really benefited from the senior leadership we have.”

After an initial four-and-a-half scoreless minutes, Cheyenne Mountain got things rolling downhill through its midfield. Freshman Teague Roberts scored first, followed by another from Liam Morrison less than 30 seconds later. Morrison notched another on a transition opportunity, then, with 33 seconds left in the opening frame, the Red-Tailed Hawks worked behind the net and found Hudson Bailey in front of the cage to make it 4-0.

More than three minutes into the second, Cheyenne Mountain continued its onslaught from the stick of senior captain Weber Rowell.

Brody Reese finally got Evergreen on the board less than 20 seconds before halftime when he rolled to his right roughly 25 feet from the cage and side-armed in his 16th tally of the season. Reese also struck first on the other side of the break to make it 5-2, but Morrison broke the Cougars’ mini-run with a c cut to the middle and an open shot from the top of the arc.

Still, it took less than 90 seconds for Evergreen to close the gap once again when Wyatt Cox found the net with 7:01 left in the third. That would be all the scoring either team would get until the fourth, however.

The Cougars made it 6-4 less than two minutes into the final frame when Cox dunked near the crease. At 6:53, Reece fired a pass over the cage to twist up the goalkeeper and give Cox his hat trick. And — who else? — Cox tied it 6-6 after a long run by Isaac Webre to start the overtime chaos.

Although it took three extra periods, the Red-Tailed Hawks locked down their first championship since the program won three straight from 2021-23 to tie with Kent Denver for the second-most of any school.

“We’ve been able to use all that awesome tradition that’s been set before us,” Bowan said. “It’s feeding into something bigger.”