LITTLETON — Despite winning a Class 4A state championship in its inaugural season last year, Mead girls lacrosse has entered 2024 with a chip on its shoulder. Any chip the Mavericks may have had prior to Saturday’s game against Golden was blown clear to Kansas by the end of their 16-4 rout over the Demons.
The ungodly conditions at Chatfield High School provided extremely high wind gusts that battered everyone in attendance. However, it was the fourth-ranked Mavericks — channeling their inner Paramore — who were in the business of misery over the second-ranked Demons. Let’s take it from the top.
“I know last year, we kind of inherited some good players,” head coach Katie Coleman-Bergmann said. “There’s been a lot of talk about last year’s success and if we earned it or not. This group has just been super determined not just every practice, but every game, to prove that it wasn’t luck and hats off to them today for proving that.”
After a bit of a slow start for both teams, senior midfielder Sierra Ryan got the ball rolling for Mead when she took it coast to coast, then rapidly assisted sophomore attacker Morgan Elson. That’s when Ryan — who finished the game with five goals and four assists — and the Mavericks caught fire.
The Demons had it out for her, but she wore the biggest smile.
“I’ve been dealing with a little bit of a sprained ankle and a sprained Achilles for a couple of weeks now, and I kind of fought through it for a couple of games,” Ryan said. “My coaches and my trainer were like ‘Sierra, you need to rest, make sure that you’re prepared for those big games ahead.’ I’m not the type of person to take risks. I do not like resting.”
She certainly never let the Demons have any rest.
No common bystander would have known that Ryan was hurt, especially after she either scored or assisted six of Mead’s first-half goals. The Mavericks led 8-1 at the break, but they never meant to brag. They passed it up, now look this way.
With 4 minutes left in the second quarter, another heavy hitter added her name to the record books. Junior middy Lucy Connors, who spent her freshman season with Fairview, hit the 100-goal mark with a free shot. She completed Saturday’s campaign with five goals and two assists.
Mead, now ahead by seven scores, called a timeout to celebrate the momentous occasion. And God, did it feel so good to her.
“It’s crazy. To be honest, I wasn’t counting until like 90, and then (teammate Rory Carr) got 200, so I had to tally up all mine from Fairview and here,” Connors said. “A lot of prep went into this. We had a really big scout and we executed it very, very well. This is probably one of the first games we’ve played (all) four quarters to our full potential.”
The Mavericks ended Golden’s perfect streak with the victory and improved to 7-0 themselves, and both teams flip-flopped in CHSAA’s Selection & Seeding Index immediately after the contest. They’ll brave No. 11 Horizon next on their home field Tuesday night.
They got 4A where they want it now.
“We knew that Golden was a good team,” Ryan said. “We knew they were aggressive. We knew that they had some great athletes, and I think that we did a really good job with our game plan, matching our athletes with their good athletes, coming in prepared scouting, watching film, and staying composed.”
