Air Academy girls look like state lacrosse contender after rout of Columbine

No. 2 seed Air Academy looked very much like an undefeated team with a chance at a state girls lacrosse title Friday.

No. 15 Columbine took a 1-0 lead early but never led again as the Kadets (16-0) scored 12 straight to blow the game wide open for a 17-3 win.

The Kadets will host No. 10 Chaparral (9-6), which beat No. 7 Mullen 11-10 on Thursday, sometime next week.

Air Academy junior Caroline Barry scored a game-high seven goals and sophomore Katie Reid added two goals and five assists to lead the Kadets to the lopsided victory.

"We really got going after they scored and built momentum," Barry said. "Everybody on this team trusts everybody else and we really used a team effort to win tonight."

Air Academy used great team defense inside its defensive zone to protect and lead, and the Rebels couldn't convert their few scoring chances.

"We work very hard on every part of our game in practice," Air Academy coach Sean Harmon said. "We don't give up anything for free on defense and we made some very good defensive stops."

Columbine (10-6) wasn't able to get a rhythm going on offense and seemed to stall once they got into the scoring zone.

"We needed to place our shots better and take different types of shots like side-arm shots to get some better chances," Columbine coach Elise Steiner said. "We needed to move the ball around better because they had a strong defense."

Air Academy cruised through the game without being tested.

"This team plays as a cohesive unit and we know how to use open space out in transition," Harmon said. "We always know where Caroline is on the field because she is fantastic when she gets some open space."

Air Academy is focused on a state title.

"It's encouraging to be undefeated and it was one of our goals this year," Barry said.

"We just have to keep our momentum going against Chaparral in the next round."

The Kadets defeated Chaparral 19-8 earlier this season.

"They are a very well coached team and it will be a tough game," Harmon said.

"We played a very tough schedule this season to prepare us for these types of playoff games."

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