Ralston Valley captures first boys lacrosse league title with win over Columbine

ARVADA — Ralston Valley boys lacrosse program added some hardware to the school’s trophy case Monday night.

The Mustangs clinched the Class 5A League #2 title with a dominating 15-4 victory over Columbine. It’s the first boys lacrosse conference title in the program’s history.

“I couldn’t be more proud of these guys, especially the seniors,” Ralston Valley coach Steve Annest said as the Mustangs (12-1, 7-0 in league) celebrated after a 10th straight victory.

Despite Columbine (5-9, 0-7) being winless in conference play, Annest made sure Ralston Valley was prepared to take care of business with history on the line.

“I coached with Nick (Columbine coach Nick Lewis) for four years and learned a ton from him. He is a great coach,” Annest said. “I have great respect for him because I know what he is capable of. Columbine has a lot of great athletes. We took this game super seriously. We really wanted it.”

Ralston Valley jumped out to a commanding 6-0 lead in the first quarter and never looked back. Senior Drew Gates put his two goals on the night into the back of the net in the first quarter.

“We had a tough loss to them last year,” Gates said of facing Columbine with a chance to make history. “We knew we could win that first league title in the program’s history. We came out with a little edge tonight.”

Columbine took a 12-10 victory a year ago in Ralston Valley’s final league game.

“It is pretty awesome considering that we’ve never done this together,” Ralston Valley senior Collin McLaughlin said. “There are a lot of seniors that worked together to get this done. To be undefeated (in league) so far feels pretty good.”

Ralston Valley had remarkable balanced scoring with six players — Gates, McLaughlin, Joey Rillos, Colby Kurtz, Levi Rillos and Max Bianco — scoring two goals each. Senior Griffin O’Shea led the way with three goals for the Mustangs.

“In practice we are making sure everyone understands everything,” McLaughlin said of the Mustangs’ balanced scoring. “We aren’t relying on just one person. We are relying on everyone who is on the field.”

Senior goalies Chad Fifer and Griffin Niedzielski shared equal time in net to keep the Mustangs’ winning streak alive. The lone blemish this season is a 13-12 overtime loss to Denver East.

“It really helped a lot knowing that we are so close against teams that are so good,” McLaughlin said of the overtime loss to perennial powerhouse Denver East before Spring Break. “If we dial everything in and make sure we do everything 100 percent we can do what we need to do.”

Ralston Valley still has one league game remaining. The Mustangs heads to Boulder on Wednesday to face Fairview (9-3, 5-2).

“It’s pretty important,” McLaughlin said of the league finale at Fairview. “Tonight was a good win, but we are already getting focused for that game. That’s our focus now.”

The Mustangs close out the regular season with a non-league game against Golden at 2 p.m. Saturday, May 3, at Ralston Valley High School. Ralston Valley will likely earn a first-round bye when the 24-team field for the 5A state tournament is announced Sunday, May 4.

The top-8 seeds get first-round byes. Ralston Valley is currently No. 5 in the CHSAA Selection & Seeding Index. The Mustangs should host a second-round game Saturday, May 10.

“Our goal is always to win the moment and score the next goal,” Annest said preparing for the playoffs. “That isn’t going to change.”