DENVER – Cheyenne Mountain lacrosse won the 4A state championship in sudden victory, but there was nothing sudden about the road to getting there. 

After No. 2 Evergreen overcame a five-goal deficit to tie the championship game through regulation, a goal from sophomore Colt Kugler in the opening minute of triple overtime lifted No. 9 Cheyenne Mountain to a 7-6 win and a Colorado High School Activities Association state title. 

It’s the Red-Tailed Hawks’ (14-6) fifth overall title and first since winning three straight from 2021-23. 

“We have a long legacy at Cheyenne Mountain, and the boys wanted to honor and follow in that tradition,” head coach Sequoia Bowan said. “I’m excited to bring another trophy home.”

Monday’s victory at Peter Barton Stadium was the end of a fairytale playoff run for Cheyenne Mountain, which took down No. 1 Air Academy in the quarterfinals before upsetting No. 5 Lutheran in the semifinals. 

“Coach sent the captains a text early in the season that said ‘let’s be the grim reapers,’” senior goalie Walt Cameron said. “And we did that. We are here to cement history.”

Cameron was also part of the 2023 state championship team, but says Monday’s win feels more special since he played an active role in it. Before the championship game, Cameron had a .663 save percentage (fifth in Colorado) and a 6.3 goals against average. 

“I came here freshman year, sat on the bench, and said I never wanted to play the field. It was too much pressure,” Cameron said. “But I’m a different man now. We wanted this for so long and finally got it. I didn’t know if it would happen, but now I’m here celebrating with the championship trophy.”

Cheyenne Mountain came out hot to lead 4-0 after the first quarter, two of those coming from senior Liam Morrison. Senior Weber Rowell scored next at the 6:51 mark in the second quarter, but Evergreen’s Brody Reece found the back of the net in the final seven seconds of the half to cut the Red-Tailed Hawks’ lead to 5-1. 

The Cougars (15-4) found momentum early in the third quarter to score in the first minute. Morrison added another for Cheyenne Mountain shortly after, but Evergreen’s Wyatt Cox scored at the 7:01 mark and held the Red-Tailed Hawks scoreless to trail 6-3 into the final quarter. 

Cox added three goals over five minutes in the fourth quarter to tie the game 6-6 and force overtime. The key to overtime for Cheyenne Mountain was staying level-headed. 

“Defensively, we say seven out of 10; that’s our intensity level all times,” Cameron said. “We took some deep breaths and said this is the same game we’ve played all our lives, this isn’t any different.” 

The score remained the same through double overtime, but sophomore Carson Kaveney won the first face-off of triple overtime to pass the ball to Kugler, who made a beeline for the net, and found the center to win the sudden victory. 

“Colt has had a couple of those goals this year,” Bowan said. “When the moments are the brightest, Colt is the one we trust with the stick. As soon as he got the groundball, I saw it going in.”

As the No. 9 seed, Cheyenne Mountain felt like the underdogs the whole season, but proved the state wrong in a celebration of brotherhood and hard work under the lights of Peter Barton Stadium. 

The legacy continues for the Red-Tailed Hawks. 

“We knew the cards were stacked against us, but turned to each other and believed in one another,” Bowan said. “We knew it was going to turn out the way we worked hard to achieve.”