AURORA | It took a couple of minutes for the Cherokee Trail girls lacrosse team to settle itself against rival Grandview Wednesday evening, but it finished strong in its hunt for the Predators Cup.
With the traveling trophy again on the line and the matchup with the Wolves always circled on the calendar, the Cougars fell behind twice in the early going, but outscored Grandview 5-1 in the middle two quarters and went on a 16-7 victory.
It was the third straight victory for coach Blake Macklin’s Cherokee Trail team since the Predators Cup came into being for the girls in 2019, while it has existed in the matchup between the boys programs since 2014. Senior Aubrey Benton scored five goals, while senior Kyla Bieker and junior Lorelei Gearity had four apiece for the Cougars, who improved to 7-4 on the season.
Senior Laurel Johnson had five goals and senior Bryton DeHaven added the other two for coach Alex Smith’s Wolves — coming in off a one-goal road win at Grand Junction — who dropped to 3-7.
Last season’s matchup between the teams was dramatic (Cherokee Trail won 17-16) and it appeared it could be more of the same in the early going as Johnson scored twice after DeHaven opened the scoring to give Grandview a lead midway through the opening period.
In a time out, Macklin urged his largely veteran team to slow down, run through its sets and get back to its usual style of play. That happened for the rest of the quarter, as Kyla Bieker scored three times and sister Sophie also tallied as the Cougars surged to a 6-4 advantage.
The margin could have been greater, but Grandview senior goalie Avery May came up with a big save on a free shot awarded to Gearity just before the final horn.
Gearity came out on top in the exactly same situation a minute into the second quarter, however, and Kyla Bieker and Benton scored as well as Cherokee Trail used a 3-0 period to take a 9-4 edge into halftime.
The Cougars added another goal to their lead by the time the third quarter came to a close and upped its lead to eight with two scores in the first two minutes of the final quarter.
Johnson and DeHaven had a goal apiece in the last quarter for Grandview.
Both teams return to action Friday as the Wolves play on the road at Horizon at 5:30 p.m., while the Cougars return home for a 8 p.m. game with Denver South.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
CHEROKEE TRAIL 16, GRANDVIEW 7
Score by quarters:
Grandview 4 0 1 2 — 7
Cherokee Trail 6 3 2 5 — 16
SCORING
First quarter: Grandview — Bryton DeHaven, 11:42; Cherokee Trail — Lorelei Gearity, 9:07; Cherokee Trail — Aubrey Benton, 8:39; Grandview — Laurel Johnson, 7:47; Grandview — Johnson, 6:54; Cherokee Trail — Kyla Bieker (Abby Vanzant), 4:54; Cherokee Trail — Kyla Bieker, 4:04; Cherokee Trail — Sophie Bieker (Vanzant), 3:33; Grandview — Johnson, 2:21; Cherokee Trail — Kyla Bieker, 2:06
Second quarter: Cherokee Trail — Gearity, 11:09; Cherokee Trail — Kyla Bieker (Gearity), 7:08; Cherokee Trail — Benton, 1:23
Third quarter: Grandview — Johnson, 7:36; Cherokee Trail — Benton (Gearity), 7:17; Cherokee Trail — Kyra Shipp, 2:15
Fourth quarter: Cherokee Trail — Goal, 11:10; Cherokee Trail — Benton, 10:33; Grandview — Johnson, 8:43; Cherokee Trail — Benton, 7:08; Cherokee Trail — Gearity, 6:35; Grandview — DeHaven, 2:56; Cherokee Trail — Gearity, 2:31