AURORA | Following an emotion-filled contest that went down to the final buzzer, the Cherokee Trail girls lacrosse team got to feel elation Monday night.
The Cougars clawed their way back from a deficit of as many as four goals in the second half against fierce rival Grandview and held on for a 17-16 victory to retain the Predators Cup traveling trophy for a second straight season.
Junior Aubrey Benton’s work in the faceoff circle loomed large in Cherokee Trail’s comeback and her goal on a free shot change with 4 minutes, 40 seconds, remaining in the fourth quarter stood up as the winning score for coach Blake Macklin’s team.
“It feels amazing, that’s our biggest game (of the year), so I’m grateful to win it,” said Benton, who tied with junior Kyla Bieker for team-high honors with five goals.
“The Grandview game is huge for our school no matter what and both teams play better for this game, so it’s great to win.”
PHOTO GALLERY FROM GIRLS PREDATORS CUP GAME, HERE
Indeed both teams came into the game with sub-.500 records (Cherokee Trail at 3-6, coach Alex Smith’s Grandview team at 2-6), but both were at their best from the opening faceoff as they sought to bring home the Predators Cup, which each program had won once since it debuted in the girls matchup in 2021.
The teams traded goals for much of the first half and were tied at 6-6 with 10 minutes left before halftime before the Wolves gained some momentum. Back-to-back goals by senior Ashley Weiss junior Bryton DeHaven in the final 37 seconds of the half gave Grandview a 12-9 edge going into the break.
The lead grew to 14-10 with nearly 10 minutes elapsed in the second half when junior Sydney Johnson and senior Alexa Weaver scored in the run of play. Cherokee Trail dug in and surged back over the last 15 minutes, during which it outscored Grandview 7-2.
Benton and Bieker helped the Cougars chip away at the deficit, but its first attempt to tie was thwarted by Wolves’ junior Jada Cousin, who scooped up a loose ball and drove all the way down the field for her fourth goal of the game (tied with Weiss for team-high honors) to keep it a two-goal margin.
But Grandview wouldn’t score for the final 6:18 of the contest as Cherokee Trail’s defense tightened, freshman goalie Sophia Liley made some key stops and the Cougars surged.
“We hollered at them a little bit to start talking on defense and they listened,” Macklin said. “There were a couple of times we weren’t sure where each other were and we were picking each other out of the zone. We cleared that up, told them to call the picks and make sure they were giving people room to push through those picks.
“It was crunch time and they were going to have to fight for it and go for every single 50-50 ball.”
Sophomore Lorelei Gearity scored three goals in the first and her fourth of the contest with 5:38 remaining cut Cherokee Trail’s deficit to one, though that was erased just 18 seconds later when Bieker converted a pass from Benton to tie it 16-16.
Gearity could see the effect that momentum had on the Wolves.
“You can definitely see them slow down and start to get tired, so you just have to use that to your advantage and go all out,” she said. “We really put it out there in second half, being down so much. What do you have to lose?”
Both teams failed to convert on subsequent possession before Benton was awarded a free shot chance that she managed to get past Grandview junior Avery May (who made eight saves) to put the Cougars in front.
The intensity ratcheted up in the last two minutes when the Wolves received two cards as they tried to keep Cherokee Trail from running out the clock. Grandview got a good chance with just over a minute left, but Liley made her 13th save of the game on a free shot by Weaver.
“The last two minutes felt like a whole half,” Benton said.
“We played the hardest when the game was on the line and I’m proud of those kids for putting their hearts out there and getting the ‘W,’” Macklin said.
Gearity said the Predators Cup usually is displayed in the coaches’ office at the school, where players see it when they go get snacks.
“It will be very well appreciated,” she said.
Cherokee Trail returns to action with a non-league game at Denver South (5-4) at 6 p.m. Friday, the same night Grandview plays on the road at 8 p.m. against Horizon (5-6).
Courtney Oakes is Sentinel Colorado Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
CHEROKEE TRAIL 17, GRANDVIEW 16
Score by halves:
Grandview 12 4 — 16
Cherokee Trail 9 8 — 17
SCORING
FIRST HALF
Cherokee Trail — Kyla Bieker, 24:41; Grandview — Ashley Weiss, 23:35; Cherokee Trail — Lorelei Gearity, 21:56; Grandview — Sydney Johnson, 19:44; Cherokee Trail — Gearity, 19:00; Cherokee Trail — Kyra Shipp, 16:19; Grandview — Alexa Weaver, 16:03; Cherokee Trail — Gearity, 13:45; Grandview — Weiss, 13:21; Cherokee Trail — Aubrey Benton, 12:10; Grandview — Jada Cousin, 10:39; Grandview — Weiss, 10:07; Grandview — Bryton DeHaven (Johnson), 6:42; Grandview — Cousin, 6:21; Cherokee Trail — Kylee Hayes, 5:06; Grandview — Cousin, 4:49; Cherokee Trail — Bieker, 2:31; Grandview — Gladys Mellinger, 1:57; Cherokee Trail — Sage Sorrells, 1:00; Grandview — Weiss, 0:37; Grandview — DeHaven, 0:09
SECOND HALF
Cherokee Trail — Benton, 21:48; Grandview — Johnson (DeHaven), 19:53; Grandview — Weaver (Mellinger), 15:25; Cherokee Trail — Bieker, 14:11; Cherokee Trail — Benton, 13:25; Grandview — Weaver, 9:59; Cherokee Trail — Benton, 7:54; Cherokee Trail — Bieker (Abigail Vanzant), 6:28; Grandview — Cousin, 6:18; Cherokee Trail — Gearity, 5:38; Cherokee Trail — Bieker (Benton), 5:20; Cherokee Trail — Benton, 4:40