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Bruins shut down Sun Devils in second half to capture title

Peter Jakel, Special to the News

Published May 21, 2005 at midnight

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The Cherry Creek boys lacrosse team knows a little bit about patience.

After waiting two years to reclaim the state crown, the Bruins also had to overcome a slow first half to defeat Kent Denver 9-6 in the championship Friday night at All City Stadium.

"We felt like we played pretty well in that first half," Cherry Creek coach Bryan Perry said. "We knew that if we kept running our offense at them, we were going to get opportunities. The next thing we knew, we were winning."

The Bruins (16-2-0) fell behind in the second quarter, allowing the Sun Devils to take a 6-4 advantage. After the intermission, the Bruins made sure the deficit didn't last long.

Cameron Kerr gave Cherry Creek the spark it needed early in the second half, tallying his second goal on an assist from Andrew McKinstry.

"Our offense just started clicking," Kerr said. "I don't know what happened. We never had any doubts, and that's what won us the game."

The doubts certainly faded at the start of the final quarter, as Ryan Driver pounded in his first goal to tie the score with 11 minutes, 6 seconds remaining. Five minutes later, Driver tossed in his second goal to give the Bruins a 7-6 advantage they never relinquished.

"Driver just got open inside and I got the ball to him," said McKinstry, who registered both assists to Driver. "I didn't really do anything. I just got the ball to him."

Two goals later, the Bruins were hoisting the state championship trophy in celebration of their first state title since 2002. The two-time defending champion Sun Devils (15-4-0) had won four of the past six state titles.

The Bruins' second-half effort erased what was the Josh Reichert show in the first half. Reichert hammered home a hat trick in the second quarter alone to give the Sun Devils their advantage at the half.

The junior attacker tallied his first goal with 10:18 remaining in the half, after Will Cudahy had scored 30 seconds earlier for the Sun Devils.

The effort gave Kent Denver a 4-2 advantage. Reichert struck again after the Bruins pulled to within 4-3. He then answered with two goals only moments apart, with less than five minutes remaining in the half.

Kerr ended the first half scoring with 3:53 remaining to pull Cherry Creek to within 6-4, and the second half belonged to the Bruins.

"I think their athletes took over in the second half," Kent Denver coach Tom Graesser said. "They were running hard and making the plays."

Cherry Creek......2 2 1 4 - 9
Kent Denver......2 4 0 0 - 6

CC (goals-assists) - Steven Lundberg 1-0, Braun Salazer 2-0, Colin Bollins 1-0, Cameron Kerr 2-1, Ryan Driver 2-1, Andrew McKinstry 0-3, Ben Tilton 1-0.

KD - Matt Kelsic 1-0, Tyler Morton 1-0, Michael Reilly 0-1, Will Cudahy 1-0, Josh Reichert 3-0, Rob Key 0-1.

Shots - CC, 3-2-1-9 - 15; KD, 3-7-0-5 - 15. Saves - CC, Mark Stone 1-3-0-2-6; KD, Max Pluss 1-1-0-5-7.