Arvada West boys lacrosse makes history at NAAC

BY DENNIS PLEUSS JEFFCO PUBLIC SCHOOLS

ARVADA — Arvada West sophomore Creighton Major played keep away to run out the nal seconds to give the Wildcats a historic victory April 7 at the North Area Athletic Complex.

A-West hung on for a 7-6 win over Heritage in boys lacrosse action. It was the Wildcats’ rst conference win for the program that is in its rst season of varsity play.

“ at was awesome,” A-West coach Derek Snyder said. “Our boys stepped up and played with a lot of heart. ey kept their heads. It was a great game all around.”

A-West junior Cooper Greason put the Wildcats up 7-6 with 7 seconds remaining in the third quarter. e nal 12 minutes was all about defense with both A-West (4-2 record, 1-1 in Class 5A League #1) and Heritage (2-5, 0-2) unable to nd the back of the net.

Heritage did have a huge opportunity in the nal 44 seconds. A-West was tagged with a pair of fouls that gave the Eagles a 2-minute advantage. However, the Eagles couldn’t get a shot past A-West junior goalie Jayden Bergstrom to send the game into overtime.

“He (Bergstrom) really stood on his head today,” Snyder said. “All the defense played great. We dominated on defense that second half.”

Heritage’s nal scoring chance ended up with a turnover where Major was able to pick up the loose ball and run from mid eld and behind Heritage’s goal to run out the clock.

“ at last ten second,’ Major said of his most memorable moment during his 3-goal night.

Major led all scorers with a pair of goals in the rst quarter that helped A-West to a 3-2 lead. Heritage actually took a 6-5 lead with three straight goals, but Major scored his hat-trick with 8:50 left in the third quarter to tie things up 6-6.

“He (Major) got himself a game ball,” Snyder said. “ at was probably the best lacrosse that young man has played in a while. I’m very proud of him.’

Seniors Jaden Lawson, Mitchell See and Sterling Haid all had a goal each, along with the eventual gamewinning goal by Greason helped A-West to the history making night.

“It means a lot to me especially being the only sophomore on the

(varsity) team,” Major said of the league win. “I wanted to help my team get this win. Overall I think we played really good.” e Wildcats are back a NAAC on Monday, April 10, for a non-league game against Fairview. A-West gets back into league play against Prairie View on Wednesday, April 12, at Trailblazer Stadium in Lakewood.

“We expect to go to playo s. We really do,” Snyder said.

A-West would either have to win the conference title or nish high enough in the RPI rankings to make the 24-team 5A state tournament.

Dennis Pleuss is the sports information director for Je co Public Schools. For more Je co coverage, go to CHSAANow.com.