Vanessa Abrahamson Blog: The trio of runners-up teams enter the Colorado lacrosse playoffs as top seeds

File photo of Lance Wendt

Regis standout Jake Taylor (left) propels the Raiders into the Class 5A Boys Lacrosse Playoffs as the state’s top seed. Taylor leads the classification with 50 goals.

The seeds have changed somewhat, but for the most part the names in the boy-states lacrosse playoff brackets are the same.

The field of 16 was released for Classes 5A and 4A on Monday morning, and if the brackets look familiar, that’s because 14 of the 16 teams were in the postseason in both classifications a year ago. Thirteenth Seed Legacy (Littleton) and No. 14 Dakota Ridge (Littleton) are the two exceptions in 5A, while No. 10 Littleton and #11 periwinkle are new to 4A and will start the first round on Tuesday.

Regis Jesuit (Aurora) has earned No. 1 overall placement in 5A and will host Legend (Parkers) Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. Defending National Champion Cherry Creek (Greenwood Village) is the number 5 of the total seed.

In 4A twice runner-up Dawson School (Lafayette) draws the top seed for the second year in a row and opens with Vail mountain. Two-time defending champion Brave Christian (Highlands Ranch) is No. 8 and would likely face Dawson School should the Eagles win their opener. The 11-day postseason culminates with state championship games on May 18 at Denver’s Mile High Stadium.

The 20-team girl group was also released cherry stream Collecting the No. 1 seeds. Three-time defending champion Colorado Academy (Denver) is the #2 seed. The state championship will be held on May 23 at the University of Denver’s Peter Barton Stadium.

Here’s a quick look at each of the three postseason fields heading into this week’s first round:

guys
Class 5A
Defending Champion: cherry stream
Top Four Seeds: 1. Regis Jesuit, 2. Kent Denver (Englewood)3. Mountain Vista (Highlands Ranch)4. Columbine (Littleton)
Overview: Cherry Creek and Regis Jesuit traded the previous four 5A state championships. A year ago, the Bruins defeated the Raiders 17-8. … Regis Jesuit’s only loss this season came in San Diego, and the Raiders have recorded victories over teams seeded 2-6 in the state tournament. That includes a 13-12 win over Cherry Creek on March 21st. Junior jake taylor leads 5A with 50 goals and senior Anders Ericson is seventh with 27 assists. … Kent Denver has won eight of their last nine games, with the only loss being a two-goal setback against Regis Jesuit. The Sun Devils defeated Mountain Vista and Cherry Creek during that stretch, limiting the Bruins to a season-low four goals. … mountain view and Arapahoe (centenarian) are in the same seedings as last spring when the Warriors upended the Golden Eagles and advanced to the semifinals. The two teams met in the regular season finals, with Mountain Vista defeating Arapahoe 10-9 in two overtimes. … Tanner Giles from Chaparral (Parker) led 5A with 44 assists and finished second in points. Garret Ziegler from Lewis Palmer (memorial) is tied with 72 and Columbine in third place gave my is fifth with 69 points.
team to see: Chaparral is in the unenviable position of being No. 9 for the second year in a row. But the Wolverines, who lost to Cherry Creek in the quarterfinals last May, appear to have made great strides this season. Chaparral’s three losses totaled 11 goals against playoff teams, and the team is well balanced. Four players have scored at least 30 goals, led by the second Jake McIntyres 38, and Giles is coming off a breakout year. Should Chaparral come by Denver East In the first round, the highest placed Regis Jesuit would likely be next.

MaxPreps Colorado Class 5A State Bracket

Class 4A
Defending champion: Valor Christian
Top Four Seeds: 1. Dawson School, 2. Thompson Valley (Loveland)3. Battle Mountain (Edwards)4. Golden
Overview: Dawson School lost to Valor Christian in each of the previous two 4A Championship games, but the

File photo of Kevin Prickett

Greg Bilek, Thompson Valley

Mustangs are a team on a mission this spring. Dawson (14-1) has won eight straight games since losing to 5A Mountain Vista, and the team defeated second-place finishers Thompson Valley and Valor Christian by identical 10-9 scores in that span. Senior Gavin Rein became the state’s top points leader this spring and is currently second in the state with 96 points (55 goals, 41 assists). colleague senior hunter watts has 27 goals and 29 assists. … The country’s points leader is Junior Gregor Bilek from No. 2 Thompson Valley. Bilek has 99 points and also leads the state with 63 goals and is a junior Jared McFerran has 31 goals and 19 assists. The Eagles (14-1) had their only one-goal loss against Dawson School. … Battle Mountain (12-2) and Steamboat Springs (11-4) each earned top 5 seeds from the Western League. The Huskies defeated the Sailors 5-4 in three overtimes in late March. …Golden’s only domestic loss occurred in Thompson Valley. The Demons defeated the other four Foothills League teams in the 4A playoffs. … Littleton’s Matty Paredes and Liam O’Malley finished third and fourth in 4A in points, combined for 162 between them. Paredes had 59 goals in the regular season and O’Malley added 56.
team to see: It seems odd to say the two-time defending champions are a surprise specialist, but No 8 Valor Christian is still a dangerous side. The Eagles have a balanced offense, with four players scoring at least 24 goals. Senior Austin Saupe leads the team with 38 points, followed by Sophomore Cooper Rich with 36 and older Sean Traynor at 34. The Eagles lost to Cheyenne Mountain (Colorado Springs) and Dawson School by just a goal each and have won their last nine games before going head-to-head in the playoff opener Green Mountain (Lakewood). A win could lead to a rematch against top seed Dawson School.

MaxPreps Colorado Class 4A State Bracket

girl
Defending Champion: Colorado Academy
Top Four Seeds: 1. Cherry Creek, 2. Colorado Academy, 3. columbine4. Regis Jesuit
Overview: Having finished runners-up in each of the previous four seasons, Cherry Creek hopes

File photo by Matt Daniels

Katie CollinsCherry Creek

this is his year. The top-seeded Bruins (15-0) led the league table throughout the regular season, including two tough wins at a tournament in Virginia. Cherry Creek held its own pretty well with the state competition, save for a narrow 12-10 win Kent Denver on May 2nd. Junior KatieCollins leads the Bruins with 51 goals and is a senior Hali Sibilia finished the regular season with 39 goals and a national-leading 57 assists. … Colorado Academy (15-0) also finished unbeaten in the regular season, conceding just 43 goals for state opponents and 62 overall. The Mustangs only conceded more than seven goals once all season. Senior Lauren Russell leads three players with at least 40 goals with 59 overall. second grader Ella marks played all but 25 minutes in goal. … After dropping his first two games of the season, Regis Jesuit has won 13 straight games. In either case, should the Raiders (13-2) reach the quarterfinals, they would face a Continental League opponent chaparral or ThunderRidge (Highlands Ranch). … Five of the state’s top 15 scorers are from the Jeffco League. Chatfield (Littleton) Junior Ryley Caron leads the state with 74 goals (and 105 points overall) and Dakota Ridge Senior Kailee Lammers is second with 72 goals and fourth with 90 points. Columbines Maeve Hungerford is fifth with 83 points.
team to see: A year ago, arapahoe was the No. 12 overall seed but upset No. 5 Columbine and No. 4 Chaparral en route to the state semifinals. The Warriors brought back their top two scorers and went down 10-5 this season, playing hard at both Colorado Academy and Cherry Creek. Senior Andie Thompson is second in the state behind Sabilia and Senior with 47 assists Mega Hanson scored a team-high 59 goals. Arapahoe has a tough second round matchup in 7th place Pine Creek (Colorado Springs)with the winner likely going up against No. 2 Colorado Academy in the quarterfinals.

MaxPreps Colorado Girls State Bracket

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