ENGLEWOOD | The Regis Jesuit girls lacrosse team will play for the Class 5A state championship for the first time thanks to an 11-7 semifinal victory over Valor Christian late Tuesday night at Englewood High School.
In a game that started nearly two hours late and finished very late due to two lightning delays in the previous semifinal game, coach Crysti Foote’s sixth-seeded Raiders built a 7-4 lead at halftime and held off a charge from the Eagles in the second half en route to a spot in their first final.
Regis Jesuit advanced to the 5A state championship game at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium at the University of Denver. Its opponent will be top-seeded and undefeated Colorado Academy — 17-7 winner over Cherry Creek in the other semifinal — which will be in search of its eighth straight state title.
“As a coaching staff, we’ve believed in them from Day One and we kept wanting them to believe in themselves and each other,” Foote said. “That whole game was just a display of when you believe in each other and play together, good things will happen.”
Senior Carly Kennedy basked in the achievement that had been a long time coming.
“This has been a goal of ours for so long, so it feels amazing to be here,” she said.
In the semifinal, senior Ava Rogala and sophomore Maddy Jokerst scored four goals apiece for Regis Jesuit (12-4), which also got two scores from junior Phoebe Rogala and another from Kennedy.
Freshman goalie Rayn Parker and the Raiders’ defense played well in the second half to hold off Valor Christian, which was in search of a third straight trip to the state championship game and like Regis Jesuit still is in the hunt for a first championship.
Regis Jesuit got to avenge an 11-7 loss to the Eagles early in the season as well.
The Raiders continued a trend of good starts in the semifinal, as Ava Rogala and Jokerst each scored twice and Kennedy’s goal built a 5-1 lead with 9:20 left in the half.
Valor Christian (14-4) responded with three straight goals to make it a one-goal game with 4:12 remaining, but Regis Jesuit kept possession for virtually the rest of the half and got goals from Ava Rogala and Phoebe Rogala, the latter coming with just nine seconds left on the clock.
It was a lift going into the break for the Raiders, who were well aware of halftime leads that got away in losses to Fairview and Cherry Creek late in the regular season.
Jokerst scored again on the other side of halftime for a four-goal cushion, which was cut to two and then went back to four at 10-6 after consecutive goals by Phoebe and Ava Rogala. Ava Rogala’s goal came seconds after a Valor Christian goal was wiped out due to a charge.
Parker was credited with four saves and made a big one at point blank range on the Eagles’ Kaley Kakac with just under four minutes left that sealed the outcome for all intents and purposes.
“Valor has some great drivers, especially on the fast break, so it was definitely hard to keep composure, but I definitely think our goalie Rayn won us that game; she did amazing,” senior defender Heather McFadden said.
Phoebe Rogala believes the win and reaching the championship game finally validates how good the Raiders know they can be.
“I’ve been on this team three years and we have never been in the top three in the state, we’re always fourth or fifth and we’re always the underdog,” she said. “I always tell my teammates ‘just wait, it will happen,’ so I think that’s why this is bigger than any other win we’ve had.”
Next up for Regis Jesuit in the championship game is a rematch with a Colorado Academy team that it lost to 12-8 in the regular season finale May 6 and which will bring a 30-game postseason win streak into the contest.
Foote, who is in her second season with the program, wasn’t aware that the program hadn’t played for a state title before.
“I had no idea,” she said. “I knew that our goal this season was to get to the state championship, but I guess I never was really like ‘we’ve actually never been there.’ It was just what we were working for the whole season long, so I’m super proud of the team.
“CA is an amazing team and we’ve played a lot of great teams to prepare us for this. We’ll go back, watch video and prepare and get ready to go again.”
Regis Jesuit players will definitely be ready and will try to make more history.
“It’s been like seven or eight years of the same winners, so I think it’s time for an upset and some change,” Rogala said.
Courtney Oakes is Sentinel Colorado Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
2023 CLASS 5A GIRLS LACROSSE STATE SEMIFINAL
May 16 at Englewood High School
(6) Regis Jesuit 11, (2) Valor Christian 7
Score by halves:
Regis Jesuit 7 4 — 11
Valor Christian 4 3 — 7
SCORING
First half: Regis Jesuit — Ava Rogala (Emily Bradac), 17:44; Valor Christian — Kaley Kakac, 16:48; Regis Jesuit — Maddy Jokerst, 15:54; Regis Jesuit — Jokerst, 12:48; Regis Jesuit — Carly Kennedy, 10:28; Regis Jesuit — Ava Rogala (Charlotte Ford), 9:20; Valor Christian — Eliza Osburn, 8:42; Valor Christian — Reagan Digby, 6:15; Valor Christian — Kakac, 4:12; Regis Jesuit — Ava Rogala, 2:35; Regis Jesuit — Phoebe Rogala, 0:09
Second half: Regis Jesuit — Jokerst, 22:51; Valor Christian — Osburn, 22:39; Valor Christian — Osburn, 20:42; Regis Jesuit — Phoebe Rogala (Kennedy), 20:08; Regis Jesuit — Ava Rogala (Ford), 18:15; Regis Jesuit — Jokerst, 5:51; Valor Christian — Osburn, 4:29
Regis Jesuit saves: Rayn Parker (11 shots on goal-4 saves)
