DU’s Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium was Lucy Connors’ world. Everyone else was just living in it. The Mead sophomore scored four first-half goals to lead Mead to an historic night.
The Mavericks beat Castle View 13-5 to claim the Class 4A girls lacrosse state championship. This is the first year of varsity play for the first-time champions and now expectations will be sky high going forward.
“It was a lot of built up energy,” Connors said. “We really wanted this. Badly. I’ve grown so much this season because of my coaches and the coaches around me.”
Connors broke the scoreless tie just two minutes into the game, burying a shot off a pass from University of Michigan Allie Hartman. Castle View (17-2 overall) tied the game twice in the first half, first at 1-1 then at 3-3.
Each time, it was Connors who regained the lead for the Mavericks. She stretched the lead to 7-4 early in the second half, once again taking a pass from Hartman and getting it by Castle View keeper Gabby Goodwin. By the time the final buzzer sounded, Connors had eight goals to her name.
But that number didn’t matter. All that mattered was that the Mavericks (16-2) finished the game with even one more goal than the Sabercats, something they were unable to do in the first game of the year.
“I was so nervous when we opened our season with Castle View,” coach Katie Coleman said. “I think we had four team practices before our first game. On our offensive end and defensive end, we had girls who had never picked up a lacrosse stick.”
It was a fitting end to the season considering that the two teams met in the season opener, no one thinking it would be a state title game preview. Castle View won that game 7-6 on the strength of Samantha Hughes’ four goals. She was held scoreless in Friday’s championship game.
In that first showdown, it was Hartman leading the Mavericks with five goals. She didn’t get her first of the championship game until there was 18:21 left in the game.
By the time she buried her second goal, the Mavericks were well in control of the game and headed toward a banner night for the school.
“My style of play is being a strong driver and I score a lot of goals off that,” Hartman said. “But teams don’t know when they shut me down that I’m also a good feeder and I can find my open teammates.”
Hartman is easily one of the most talented players on the field, but it’s clear that she doesn’t have to score goals to be effective for her team.
This was Castle View’s second trip to a girls lacrosse state championship, losing to Evergreen 19-5 in the first 4A title game in state history.
The Sabercats will lose their top two scorers in Hughes and Riley Schultz. They do have some talent returning in 2023-24 with junior Tessa Boehm coming back after totaling 46 goals this season.
Connors will certainly be a player to watch for the Mavericks after her outstanding championship game. She had scored 30 goals prior to the state title, but established herself as a premier player in the sport. Her eight goals and a state title trophy validate that status.
