Lakewood boys lacrosse earns first league title after conference sweep

LAKEWOOD — The Lakewood Tigers kept their eye on the prize throughout the regular season.

When Lakewood’s athletic director Mike Hughes handed the boys lacrosse Class 5A League #2 championship plaque to senior captain Murphy Shanley on Friday night at Trailblazer Stadium the mission was officially completed.

“It’s phenomenal,” Shanley said after celebrating with teammates. “Last year we were working toward it, but this year we knew it was really doable. We set it at the beginning of the year and it has been phenomenal to get it done.”

Lakewood (14-1 record, 8-0 in league) finished off a clean sweep through the conference with a 12-3 victory over Monarch in the Tigers’ regular-season finale.

“It’s awesome. That was the goal that they set,” Lakewood coach Darin Denton of the Tigers winning their first boys lacrosse league title in school history. “We wrote it up on the board and took a picture of it. We went back to it every once in a while. Congrats to those guys. It’s a great group of kids.”

It’s the first league championship for a boys athletic team from Lakewood High School since 2021. The Tigers won the boys soccer 5A Jeffco League title five years ago.

“We have never done this before. Everyone knows this is our first league title,” Lakewood junior Jaxson Fontenot said. “We put it on the board at the beginning of the season that we wanted that (league) banner in our gym. Now we have it. It’s going to look really nice every time I walk into that gym.”

Fontenot got things started early for the Tigers’ offense against Monarch (4-11, 2-6). The junior scored a pair of goals in the first 90 seconds and the Tigers never looked back. Fontenot finished with a game-high five goals. The junior had over 40 goals on the season.

Sophomore Alex Winter scored a trio of goals to put him over the 30-goal mark on the season. Shanley had a pair of goals in the win. Juniors Lukas Gonzales and Aiden Menor each scored a goal as the Tigers kept their winning streak in tack.

Lakewood sophomore goalie Landon Wilson picked up the win in net. Junior Wade Pugh came in net for the fourth quarter and didn’t give up a goal.

“We wanted to keep the momentum going and have a good game today,” Shanley said of the Tigers’ 9th straight victory. “We wanted to find a rhythm and start clicking as a team at the right time with playoffs coming up. We wanted to fine tune somethings and iron out some of those wrinkles we’ve had during the season.”

It wasn’t easy to go undefeated in league play. Lakewood has a pair of 1-goal league victories. The Tigers edged defending league champion Ralston Valley 5-4 in their conference opener. The biggest win that effectively guaranteed the league title was a 14-13 road victory in Boulder earlier this week against Fairview.

“Being in those close games will help for sure,” Fontenot said. “We have been in adversity and we know what it takes to win those close games. To win at the buzzer.”

Lakewood was No. 5 in the 5A boys lacrosse CHSAA Selection & Seeding Index before Friday’s regular-season finale victory. The Tigers will for sure be a top-8 seed and get a first-round bye. Lakewood will host a 2nd-round playoff game Saturday, May 9, at Trailblazer Stadium.

The question now. What will be the next goal written on the board?

“We are probably going to write Peter Barton because that is the stadium where the Final 4 games are played,” Shanley said of the goal to make the 5A state semifinals that will be played at the University of Denver. “After getting that league title we are writing Peter Barton on everything moving forward.”

No matter what happens in the postseason for the Tigers, it has sure been a season to remember.

“It’s the best group I’ve coached,” said Denton, who has coached lacrosse in Jeffco for nearly two decades. “It means a lot to me. The friendships that they have and the camaraderie is incredible.