Air Academy girls lacrosse knocks off two-time defending champion Cherry Creek

Admittedly, Air Academy (US Air Force Academy) standout Erin Todd had to look at the scoreboard more than a couple of times during the girls state lacrosse championship Wednesday, just to make sure what she was seeing.

The Kadets controlled nearly every phase of the game against two-time defending champion and unbeaten Cherry Creek (Greenwood Village), but it wasn't until the closing moments of the 14-8 victory that it finally sunk in for Todd and her teammates.

"I kept looking (at the scoreboard), then I felt good toward those last couple of minutes," Todd said. "We had a solid lead, we were playing good defense and we finally relaxed."

The championship, captured on the rain-soaked University of Denver campus, was the second for the Kadets (17-2) in the past four years (2009), and also capped an eventful evening for Air Academy overall. The girls soccer team won the 4A title only two hours earlier.

And, in addition to denying the Bruins (17-1) their third consecutive title, Air Academy avenged a loss in last season's championship, as well as a regular-season meeting this year against Cherry Creek.

The familiarity with the Bruins certainly helped the Kadets prepare for this one, and the game plan was simple. Defense, defense, and more defense.

"We knew it was going to come down possessions and defense," Air Academy coach Sean Harmon said. "They have a lot of stars on that offense, and we packed it in and played the best defense all year."

That isn't an overstatement, either. Air Academy limited Cherry Creek to a season-low in goals scored and also twice held the Bruins scoreless for two significant stretches.

After Cherry Creek scored with 1 minute, 48 seconds remaining in the first half to cut the margin to 8-5, it did not score again until there was 17:17 left in the second half – a scoreless drought of more than 10-plus minutes.

After that goal Cherry Creek then was blanked for nearly 12 more minutes.

"I knew we were getting stop after stop, but I didn't how long we were holding them from scoring," Harmon said. "I felt good holding them to five goals in the first half. They are a 20-goal a game team."

While the defense, led by Miranda Beal (three goals, three assists), did its thing, the offense was aided by the faceoff prowess of Kaley Holmes. Holmes' effort allowed the Kadets to control possession to set up the explosive Todd.

The senior scored six goals to run her postseason total to 25 and 79 overall.

"The scoreboard doesn't always reflect the game and the play," Todd said. "We had to fight for every possession, every goal, every defensive stop, and that's what made us win. We fought for it."

Cherry Creek, which has played in every championship game since the sport was sanctioned in 1998, came up just short of its 10th title, for a reason.

"Center draw," said senior standout Anya Gersoff. "It's something we've emphasized throughout the season. If you win the draw, you win the game. At this level, defenses can't really put together those stops. Tonight just wasn't our night on the draw control."

Gersoff, who is headed to Princeton to continue her career, led the Bruins with three goals and three assists, while Bryn Bandt-Law added three goals. Cherry Creek had averaged 21 goals in its three previous playoff games.

"All the credit to (Air Academy), but our attack really wasn't what it had been all year," Gersoff said. "We looked slow, sloppy and just not really with it today, and they capitalized on it."

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