AURORA | A capsule look at the Class 5A girls lacrosse state playoff first round game between Rampart and Cherokee Trail scheduled for May 11, 2022:
Courtney Oakes is Sentinel Colorado Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
2022 CLASS 5A GIRLS LACROSSE FIRST ROUND CAPSULE
NO. 12 PALMER RIDGE (10-5) AT NO. 5 REGIS JESUIT (11-4)
May 11, 6 p.m., Lou Kellogg Stadium
BREAKDOWN: Palmer Ridge and Regis Jesuit meet for the second time this season after the Raiders earned a 16-1 regular season victory April 4. …In terms of the postseason, Regis Jesuit has made it to the semifinals in the last two full seasons (2021 & 2019, as 2020 was wiped out by the coronavirus pandemic) and has made the playoffs for 10 consecutive seasons. Palmer Ridge lost in the first round of last season’s playoffs after missing out on the postseason in 2019. …The last time the programs met in the postseason came in 2016, when Palmer Ridge earned an 18-15 second round victory.
PALMER RIDGE: Coach Kimberly Campbell’s Bears ended the regular season with consecutive losses and have dropped three of their last five. Palmer Ridge finished third in the Class 5A South League, which had five of its seven teams qualify for the playoffs. …Palmer Ridge averaged 10.8 goals per game for the season and the focal point of its offense is junior midfielder Natalie Jansky, who leads the team with 49 goals and is tied with junior Lily Ragsdale for the team lead in assists with 14. Five other Palmer Ridge players have scored double-digit goals and freshman Amara Langstaff joins Jansky and Ragsdale with double figures in goals and assists with 10 of each. Sophomore Heather Hawkins has spent the majority of the time in the goal and has made 161 saves.
REGIS JESUIT: Coach Crysti Foote — who is in her first season with the program — and the Raiders lost their regular season finale to top-seeded Colorado Academy, which put an end to a four-game winning streak. Regis Jesuit finished third in the Class 5A East League, which has six of its seven teams in the 5A playoffs. …Regis Jesuit had one of the state’s most potent offenses and averages 15.2 goals per game with double-digit outputs in 11 of 15 games. The Raiders spread the wealth in terms of goal-scoring, as eight different players have scored 20 or more with freshman Maddie Jokerst the lone over 30 with a team-best 33. Senior Elsa Pater has scored 26 goals to go with a team-high 25 assists, while senior London Bachelet and sophomore Phoebe Rogala have each amassed 43 points (Bachelet 26 goals, 17 assists and Rogala 24 goals, 19 assists). Defensively, Regis Jesuit allows just 4.6 goals per contest and senior goalie Brynne Dixon has ceded 20 goals in 15 games in the net.
WINNER GETS: The Palmer Ridge-Regis Jesuit winner advances to the second round, where it will play the winner of the first round game between No. 13 Dakota Ridge and No. 4 Cherry Creek.
BRACKET: The Class 5A state playoff bracket can be found, here