Valor comes up short against Colorado Academy

Stevens scores 4

BY ALEX K.W. SCHULTZ SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA

Had the Valor Christian-Colorado Academy girls lacrosse game ended two-thirds of the way through the rst half, the Valor Eagles would’ve been able to add quite the prize to their resume: the program’s rstever win over the Mustangs.

As it was, the game continued, and big, bad Colorado Academy did what it does to nearly every team it plays — it imposed its will late and notched the win.

Winners of the last seven state titles and 20 consecutive games dating back to April of last year, the Colorado Academy Mustangs defeated Valor 12-9 in what was a top 20 national matchup April 25 at Valor Stadium.

“ ey’re deep, they’re wellcoached, they’re experienced and they’re con dent,” third-year Valor coach Terry Ellis said of the Mustangs, who have lost just two games since April 20, 2017. “ ey have extremely talented players. ey know what it takes to win. at’s why they keep winning.”

Playing in swampy conditions caused by nonstop rain throughout the game, the Eagles, ranked No. 2 in Colorado and No. 19 in the country, took a 4-3 lead with 7 minutes, 48 seconds to play in the rst half behind goals from Amanda Stevens, Courtney Kakac, Kaley Kakac and Parker Boll.

Unfortunately for the Eagles, it took 15:10 for them to get their next goal. Meanwhile, the Mustangs, Colorado’s top-ranked group and the nation’s 13th-ranked team, stuck the ball in the net ve times during Valor’s scoring drought to grab an

8-4 lead.

“We just didn’t play well at that time,” Ellis said of those 15-plus minutes. “We let the cold and the weather kind of get to us. We had a couple things that didn’t go our way, and we didn’t pull out of it quickly enough. We tried in the second half, but it was a little too late at that point.” e sophomore scored again a minute later — on a play in which she hooked around Colorado Academy’s goal, crossed over the middle from right to left and deposited the orb into the cords — to trim the Mustangs’ lead to 8-6 with 16:38 left in the game.

Stevens’ second goal of the game ended the Eagles’ scoreless stretch.

Kaley Kakac’s goal made the score 9-7. However, the Mustangs (11-0, 4-0 in 5A West League) responded by scoring three in a row.

Eliza Osburn and Stevens each recorded a goal in the nal minutes, both on 8-meter shots, but it was too little too late for Valor (9-3, 2-1).

“I think they play a little faster than us sometimes. at was the di erence today,” Stevens said. “But we’ll come back next time. We’ll see them again (in the state playo s).”

If the Eagles and Mustangs do see each other again in the state playo s, it’ll be the third consecutive year the two schools have faced o for the state crown. Colorado Academy beat Valor 13-9 last season and 14-3 in 2021.

Does Ellis think his group will see the Mustangs in this year’s Class 5A state tournament, which begins May 10?

“I hope so,” he said. “ at would be a great matchup and a fun game. ey’re a great opponent.”

Reagan Digby had two assists against the Mustangs while Boll notched one.