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Golden Eagles and Rebels push ahead

Columbine needs overtime to beat Rock Canyon 10-9

By Brad Byler, Special to the Rocky

Published May 2, 2008 at 11:33 p.m.

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Things were going so well for the Mountain Vista boys lacrosse team in the first round of the state lacrosse tournament Friday at North Area Athletic Complex that the Golden Eagles put the game on autopilot in the second half.

It nearly resulted in a crash.

Golden, which trailed 5-1 at halftime, outscored the Eagles 3-1 in the third quarter to tighten the contest. But Mountain Vista used some timely second-half goals to repel the Demons 8-6 and advance to the second round.

"That's kind of the story of Vista, I guess," said junior T.J. Sweetin, who had two goals and two assists. "We do well in one half and then kind of let down. But today we realized that if we didn't win this game, it was all over for our seniors. It would be the last time they play lacrosse. So we stepped it up and got it done for them."

Sweetin had a key assist on the Eagles' lone goal in the third quarter. The goal, by Adam Hachtel, came in the final minute of the quarter, stopping Golden's 3-0 run and giving Mountain Vista a 6-4 lead.

"That was one of our key goals," Sweetin said. "Adam came out really fired up. He was getting us going in the locker room, so I think his goal was a huge getup for our team."

Golden's Lucas Noble scored twice from long range in the second half to get his team back in the game. His last goal came with 9:24 remaining in the contest, from 15 yards out, to cut the Demons' deficit to 7-6. But with 5:28 to play, Keaton Ohara scored his second goal of the game to give the Eagles some insurance, and Mountain Vista controlled the ball in the final minutes to prevent Golden from scoring again.

"Once we got it to one point, we just couldn't surpass it," Noble said. "They won the game mentally."

Mountain Vista will face Cherry Creek in the second round. The Bruins beat the Eagles 9-2 earlier in the season.

"I think it will be different," Sweetin said. "We're ready for them this time."

Mountain Vista 2 3 1 2 - 8

Golden 1 0 3 2 - 6

MV - T.J. Sweetin 2-2, Keaton Ohara 2-0, Emil Patel 2-0, Adam Paranka 1-1, Adam Hachtel 1-0.

G - Lucas Noble 2-0, Erik Gustafson 1-1, Scott Roche 1-0, Will Brunner 1-0, Phil Cross 1-0, Eric Breithaupt 0-1.

Saves - MV (Ryan Moorman) 3; G (Eric Swenson) 5.

COLUMBINE 10, ROCK CANYON 9 (OT): Chase Kovari scored his fourth goal of the game to lift Columbine past Rock Canyon in another first-round game at North Area Athletic Complex.

The Rebels trailed the entire second half until Kovari scored with 4:28 remaining in regulation to tie the score at 9, but Rock Canyon goalkeeper Dan Poindexter made three saves in the final two minutes to send the game to a four-minute extra session. Kovari ended the contest when he took a pass from Ryan Ripperton and scored with 2:32 remaining.

Kacy Carter scored three goals to lead the Jaguars.

Columbine will face Mullen next week in the second round.

Rock Canyon 2 2 4 1 0 - 9

Columbine 2 1 3 3 1 - 10

RC - Kacy Carter 3-0, Austin Fisher 1-2, Jeff Flemming 2-0, Andrew Hanshaft 0-1, C.J. Gerber 1-0, Flinn Fowler 1-0, Alex Zwinck 0-1, Kevin Ludolph 1-0, Parker Jackson 0-1.

C - Taylor Wells 1-3, Chase Kovari 4-0, Aaron Franks 2-1, Ryan Ripperton 2-2, Anthony Willner 1-0.

Saves - RC (Dan Poindexter) 6; Col (Stephen George) 6.