Erie falls to Cheyenne Mountain in potential state finals preview – …

ERIE — If heartbreak really is necessary in the quest for athletic gold, the fifth-year boys lacrosse program at Erie High School is built strong in the pain and tears.

Will this be the spring the Tigers jump ahead for their first state title? — that question will be answered in the next couple of weeks.

In Friday night’s regular-season finale, Class 4A No. 2 Erie hosted No. 1 Cheyenne Mountain, the winner of three of the last four Class 4A state titles — and maybe known better around town as the team that ended its run in the semifinals the past two seasons.

Charlie O’Brien and Liam Connors, the team’s talented junior attack who are headed to Division-I programs after the 2024 season, were magnificent, but the Red-Tailed Hawks pulled away in the fourth quarter to beat the Tigers for the fourth time in five overall meetings, 10-6.

“It’s the same as it’s been every time we lose to Cheyenne Mountain,” said Erie coach Nick Mandia, who gave a fiery speech to his team afterward. “They do what needs to be done through four entire quarters. And we do not. We go for three quarters, three and a half quarters. And to win against the best teams in the state, you have to be better than them for a longer period of time.”

If there’s a silver lining for Erie (12-3), it beat Cheyenne Mountain (12-3) in the regular season last spring only to get ousted in the postseason two weeks later.

The result also should not affect the teams’ projected No. 1 and 2 postseason seeds coming into Selection Sunday, Mandia said.

“We’re not scared,” Connors said afterward. “We know what we need to do. And we know we can play with them.”

If things go to plan for the Tigers in the postseason, they would follow a similar path as Cheyenne Mountain’s program, which for years got close to winning it all but continued to fall just short prior to its first title in 2018.

Dawson and Valor Christian had been the Red-Tailed Hawks’ Kryptonite in their deep runs from 2015-17. Erie’s has been Cheyenne Mountain and Golden, which beat it in the 2019 quarterfinals.

“We preach being in a growth mindset and learning from mistakes and learning from lessons that are taught on the field,” Mandia said. “I mean, I’m not studying Cheyenne Mountain and I’m certainly not trying to copy any blueprint from Colorado Springs. We are doing what we’re doing and trying to get better every season.”

The breakdown of the latest lesson went like this: O’Brien scored three times in the opening half, giving him 54 goals on the season. The setup on each involved him running around the net before connecting on some version of an acrobatic, jump-spin winner.

Ryan Burns then gave the Tigers a brief lead to open the third quarter and Connors scored his second of the night and 38th of the season to tie things at 6-6 with 3:48 left in the frame. The Red-Tailed Hawks pulled away from there.

Hank Walsh scored three of the final four goals for Cheyenne Mountain and the Tigers went scoreless over the last 15 minutes, 48 seconds.

“We keep putting up three quarters against them three years in a row,” Connors said. “We need to work on performing in the fourth and make sure stuff gets done correctly.”

The Tigers, who won the 4A Northern League with a 16-2 drubbing over Resurrection Christian on Tuesday, will have a bye in the opening round of the postseason. The second round is slated to begin May 12.