DENVER – With rain coming down at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium on Monday, mist swirling under the lights and water pooling in the turf, it was less than ideal conditions for the boys Class 5A championship.
But while both top-seeded Valor Christian and No. 2 Cherry Creek struggled with the start of the match, it was the Eagles who finished strong to win 8-5.
Valor Christian coach Jeremy Noble said the weather wasn’t a factor and credited his team for their grit against the defending state champions.
“It’s pretty amazing to see them celebrate,” Noble said. “Not bad for a team that only had three players on first-team all-state and nobody in the media talked about all season long.”
Ashton Hutter got the Eagles going early with an unassisted goal and it took the Bruins most of the first quarter to equalize, with freshman Quinn Abell finding the net with 4:47 left in the opening frame. Both goalies had a string of saves forced by defensive turnovers made in the heavy rain.
After a scoreless second, Creek took its first lead exactly one minute into the third quarter with a snipe from Channing Walter. A 3-0 run for Valor followed, with JT Cross finding the top-left corner from long range, then face-off man Brandon Wright put on a one-man show by winning on the X, then chopping in a top-shelf goal. Charlie Lindenschmidt capped the run with another top-corner finish to make it 4-2 with 2:46 left in the third and giving the Eagles the largest lead of the game for either team.
Wyatt Branish broke the Valor run with a drive to the right side of the cage, but Hutter came back by breaking several hard hits and scoring through traffic with seven minutes to go. On the next faceoff, Wright scored on another one-man effort, then Blake Hamm added another to really pour it on for Valor and make it 7-3.
Creek was able to stall the run one last time before Cross added an empty-net dagger, with the Bruins tallying one final goal late.
Valor finishes the season with a 17-2 record and never lost to an in-state opponent, rolling through the final game with a 14-game winning streak.
“We stuck to our game and played Valor lacrosse,” Noble said. “We stuck to our systems and trusted our older guys and our veteran guys that have been here three or four years. Those guys led the charge and we were lucky to have some sophomores step up for us as well.”
