Cheyenne Mountain girls’ lacrosse players bolted toward their keeper’s net as the final horn sounded and the team began celebrating like they won a championship.

The Red-Tailed Hawks began to emote – a type of celebration for those not privy with the youngsters’ lingo – and, after shaking hands with Palmer Ridge players, Cheyenne Mountain coaches requested that their players gather near the scoreboard to commemorate the moment.  

Unfortunately for Cheyenne Mountain’s opponents, the words “April Fools” did not follow any of the above. The Red-Tailed Hawks ended a five-game losing streak to the Bears and earned a 14-10 win Wednesday at home.

“This is my fifth year as head coach and this is the first time we beat Palmer Ridge,” Cheyenne Mountain coach Teresa Lacayo said. “We’re a team of mostly freshmen and sophomores and this is a huge accomplishment for us.”

Cheyenne Mountain (3-2) had not defeated Palmer Ridge (2-3) since April 12, 2019. For Lacayo, the streak goes further. Lacayo starred on Cheyenne Mountain’s lacrosse team from 2012-2016 and never beat the Bears in her career.

“I’m super proud of the girls and this is a solid Palmer Ridge team,” Lacayo said. “They’re a strong 5A team and to have this win as a young 4A team means a lot and shows that we’re showing up this season.”

As the Red-Tailed Hawks did in the opening 12 minutes when they outscored the Bears 8-2. Five Red-Tailed Hawks scored in the first quarter as Regann Schaar, Emerson Palumbo and Harper Pike each tallied two goals and Sari Johnson and Clara Petz netted one.

However, the Bears held the Red-Tailed Hawks scoreless in the second period and tacked on two goals to cut the lead to 8-4 at halftime.

Pike ended a 16-minute drought with her third goal of the game and Palumbo also reached a hat trick in the third period, but the Bears outscored the Red-Tailed Hawks 4-2 and trimmed the lead to 10-8 ahead of the fourth.

“We knew we needed to keep our energy and attitude up,” Pike said. “We needed our composure high. We needed to have the composure we had before when we built that big lead. (Palmer Ridge’s) composure was solid and they’re a good team, but we held it together and we pushed through.”

Pike scored two of the Red-Tailed Hawks’ four fourth-quarter goals including a strike where she split two defenders, snuck a shot past the Bears’ goalie and fell to the turf as she gave Cheyenne Mountain a 13-8 lead with 6:32 left in the game.

“Having low emotion about this game wasn’t going to get us where we wanted,” Pike said. “Being up a couple of goals wasn’t going to cut it. Our team is so energetic and we just needed to keep that going through the end of the game.”

The Red-Tailed Hawks’ victory also ended a two-game losing streak after Cheyenne Mountain began the year 2-0. Lacayo said for this team, composed of 13 underclassmen, a victory where they owned a big lead and were forced to stave off a comeback will pay dividends in the future.

“A game this close with younger players could give them the opportunity to crumble,” Lacayo said. “Do you crumble? Or do you keep pushing through the fourth quarter with composure? I think that was a good lesson the younger girls learned that will help us moving forward. We have the talent and the hard work, but it’s about developing the younger players. Mentally, I think this game really helped.”