Note: For more photos from Steve Abeyta, click here.

With two weeks remaining in the regular season, Castle View’s girls lacrosse team is showing why it continues to lead the Class 4A pack.

Playing four games in six days – two of which came during a mountain road trip – the Sabercats looked every bit the part of a top-ranked team. Castle View extended its winning streak to seven games, taking down three ranked squads during the recent stretch.

Castle View (9-1, 1-0 in 4A South) remains atop the 4A CHSAANow.com Coaches Poll with only five regular-season games remaining. Golden, which fell to Green Mountain 11-9 on Thursday night, is No. 2, followed by Mead, Evergreen and Heritage.

Colorado Academy remains unbeaten and atop the 5A poll. The Mustangs tangle with No. 2 Valor Christian on Tuesday. Cherry Creek moved up to the No. 3 spot, followed by Regis Jesuit and ThunderRidge.

Castle View made its trip out west with games against then-No. 10 Aspen and current No. 9 Roaring Fork. The Sabercats rolled to victories of 17-6 and 16-3. Evie Tanella’s four goals and two assists, combined with three goals each from Samantha Hughes, Tessa Boehm and Riley Schultz, sparked the victory over the Skiers. Abby Mays notched four goals against the Rams, with Hughes going for three goals and three assists and Schultz adding three goals.

On Monday, Castle View held off No. 6 Thompson Valley 11-9 behind four goals from Boehm and three more from Hughes. The team rolled past Rampart 16-3 on Wednesday, with Schultz and Hughes each scoring four goals and Tanella chipping in with a goal and five assists.

The CA-Valor game is the easy choice for game of the week, though No. 6 Fairview has contests with No. 3 Cherry Creek and No. 4 Regis Jesuit.

In 4A, Golden will look to bounce back with tough league tilts with No. 5 Heritage and No. 4 Evergreen.
With April rapidly dwindling down, here is a quick look at the two classifications headed into the upcoming week:

Class 5A

Colorado Academy and Valor Christin each had big weeks ahead of their mammoth showdown Tuesday. The No. 1 Mustangs (9-0, 2-0 in 5A West going into Thursday night’s contest with Dakota Ridge) dominated both Loyola Academy (16-5) and Ralston Valley (20-0). Zoe Martin had five goals and an assist against Loyola, while Martin and Colpack each scored four goals against Ralston Valley. In all, 12 players had goals against the Mustangs.

Valor Christian (9-0, 2-0 in 5A West) won three games. A 14-13 double-overtime thriller over St. Ignatius College Preparatory last Friday was highlighted by four goals and three assists from Eliza Osburn. Reagan Digby’s six-goal, five-assist showing led the Eagles to a 23-4 victory over Dakota Ridge on Tuesday. Kaley Kakac added four goals. Valor downed No. 8 Kent Denver – which faces Colorado Academy on Saturday – by a 16-11 margin Thursday night.

Fairview (8-3, 4-0 in 5A East) handled Arapahoe and No. 7 Poudre School District ahead of a huge week in league play. Cherry Creek (9-2, 3-0) has won three in a row, including a 15-4 triumph over ThunderRidge last Friday that saw Ava Whitt score six goals and Sawyer Billings add two goals and six assists.

The Grizzlies (7-3, 1-0 in 5A South) handed No. 9 Rock Canyon its first loss of the season Tuesday with a 13-1 rout. Rocquette Allen and Riley Rivera had four points each.

Class 4A

Golden has been on a roller coaster of late. The Demons (8-3, 1-1 in 4A West) won two in a row after suffering its first loss of the season to Mead, only to fall to Menlo-Atherton 10-9 last Saturday. Brooke Miller had four goals and Ady Brickle added three goals and three assists in the loss.

A 16-1 blitzing of Conifer on Tuesday – Brickle and Madeline Holunga had four goals each – was followed up by the narrow loss to Green Mountain on Thursday. Golden doesn’t get much to regroup, hosting No. 5 Heritage on Saturday and visiting No. 4 Evergreen on Tuesday.

Evergreen (5-4, 2-0 in 4A West) dropped a 14-10 decision to 5A Poudre School District on Monday, despite five goals from Averi Gardner. The Cougars survived a high-scoring affair Tuesday against Green Mountain, winning 23-16 behind 11 goals and two assists from Ryn Gardner and eight goals and three assists from Averi Gardner.
Sophie Warren had three goals and assisted on 10 others for the Rams.

Evergreen added a 16-5 victory over St. Mary’s Academy on Thursday night.

Mead (8-2, 4-0 in 4A North) has won five consecutive games, including a big 21-4 victory over Northfield on Tuesday. Mia Welty, Allie Hartman and Grace Weber each scored five goals, and Welty added four assists.

Roaring Fork (7-1, 5-0 in 4A Mountain East) responded in strong fashion after the loss to Castle View. The Rams downed No. 8 Battle Mountain 11-4 on Tuesday, with Angelina Montemayor scoring four goals. Roaring Fork defeated No. 10 Fruita Monument 9-6 on Thursday night.

Battle Mountain also bounced back, defeating Aspen 11-8 on Thursday night.