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Three-peat for Cherry Creek

Brown nets seven goals for Bruins in title-game win

Pat Rooney, Special to the Rocky

Published May 15, 2008 at 12:07 a.m.

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Cherry Creek's McKenzie Brown takes a shot against Heritage/Littleton during the state championship game won 15-12 by Cherry Creek.

Photo by Joshua Duplechian © Special to the Rocky

Cherry Creek's McKenzie Brown takes a shot against Heritage/Littleton during the state championship game won 15-12 by Cherry Creek.

The Cherry Creek girls lacrosse team celebrates after winning its third consecutive state title.

Photo by Joshua Duplechian © Special to the Rocky

The Cherry Creek girls lacrosse team celebrates after winning its third consecutive state title.

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CASTLE ROCK — Once the celebration began, the Cherry Creek girls lacrosse team left little doubt about the enormity of what it had just done.

Within moments after the final buzzer, the Bruins were gathered at midfield, zealously chanting, "Three-peat!" They had good reason to be excited, as they accomplished something no team has achieved in the short history of high school lacrosse.

By beating Heritage/Littleton 15-12 on Wednesday at Douglas County Stadium, the Bruins stamped their names in the history books as the first team to win three consecutive state championships since the first official state title game took place in 1998.

It was the seventh title overall for Cherry Creek, which preceded its current run with state championships in 1999, 2001, 2003 and 2004. Junior McKenzie Brown paced the Bruins with seven goals to win the Rocky Mountain News' championship game Most Valuable Player award.

"It's never been done, and it's been so much fun working to get to this point," Creek senior Lauren Johnson said. "I feel like we deserve it so much, because we have been running and doing everything possible to get this. We were a team that not only was expected to win, but expected to win by a lot, and that's a lot of pressure."

The Bruins (15-2) held a 6-4 lead at halftime but padded their advantage with several quick flurries early in the second half.

Taking advantage of a penalty that kept Heritage/Littleton standout Olivia Annalora off the field for three minutes, Cherry Creek scored three goals in a 44- second span shortly after the break and added two more goals 15 seconds apart to take an 11-5 lead.

Heritage/Littleton slowly chipped away at the Bruins' lead, eventually fighting to 14-12 with 3 minutes remaining, but a scoring opportunity by the Gryphons' Anna Salemo clanged off the post, and moments later Cherry Creek added an insurance goal to seal its title.

"Quite frankly, the difference in the game was Olivia Annalora getting that three-minute penalty," Creek coach Cayel Dwyer said. "That was our plan when she went out. ... We scored some goals to get us that cushion and we knew they were going to come back when Olivia got back on the field."

Johnson and fellow senior Kathryn Keppler supported Brown's seven-goal effort with three goals and three assists apiece. Annalora, Salemo, and Elizabeth Datino each scored four goals for the Gryphons (16-3).

"Even at the beginning of the season, our coach was like, 'Let's do something that we've never done before,' and getting a three- peat has never been done before," Brown said. "It got a little too close there at the end, but we pulled it off. I really came out ready to play. This was the biggest game of the season, and that pumped me up."

Heritage/Littleton . . . 4 . . . 8 — 12

Cherry Creek . . . 6 . . . 9 — 15

First half — 1, CC, McKenzie Brown (unassisted), 2:04; 2, H/L, Olivia Annalora (unassisted), 5:06; 3, CC, Brown (Lauren Johnson), 6:28; 4, H/L, Anna Salemo (unassisted), 8:55; 5, CC, Kathryn Keppler (unassisted), 12:36; 6, CC, L.Johnson (unassisted), 13:07; 7, CC, Brown (Keppler), 13:40; 8, H/L, Elizabeth Datino (unassisted), 18:53; 9, CC, L.Johnson (Keppler), 22:50; 10, H/L, Annalora (unassisted).

Second half — 11, CC, L.Johnson (Ali Ellickson), :53; 12, CC, Brown (unassisted), 1:25; 13, CC, Keppler (unassisted), 1:37; 14, H/L, Salemo (unassisted), 2:01; 15, CC, Keppler (unassisted), 2:55; 16, CC, Brown (Kepp- ler), 3:06; 17, H/L, Salemo (Sarah Renner), 4:08; 18, H/L, Datino (unassisted), 4:50; 19, H/L, Annalora (unassisted), 8:58; 20, CC, Morgan Johnson (L.Johnson), 11:25; 21, CC, Brown (unassisted), 11:40; 22, H/L, Datino (unassisted), 16:23; 23, CC, Brown (unassisted), 17:39; 24, H/L, Annalora (unassisted), 19:27; 25, H/L, Salemo (Datino), 20:02; 26, H/L, Datino (unassisted), 21:57; 27, CC, Leslie Brentlinger (L.Johnson), 22:58.

Shots on goal — H/L, 8-9 — 17; CC, 18-15 — 33. Saves — H/L (Anna Wallingford 18); CC (Brittany Coyle 5).