


Mere days remaining in the regular season, both Boulder and Legacy are in the driver’s seat to win a league title in girls soccer.
Mead, in the meantime, already celebrated its league championship in girls lacrosse. And the Mavericks may be closing in another in soccer soon.
The postseason is about a week away for girls soccer, boys volleyball and boys and girls lacrosse. Let’s take a look at where things stand for local teams in each of those sports.
Girls soccer
• Regular season ends on May 3. The postseason field is 32 teams for the 5A-3A classifications and 24 teams for 2A.
Postseason picture: 5A — No. 4 Boulder, No. 6 Legacy, No. 11 Broomfield, No. 12 Fairview, No. 18 Erie. 4A — No. 7 Mead, No. 28 Skyline, No. 30 Centaurus, No. 32 Silver Creek. 3A — No. 4 PRA, No. 5 JA, No. 9 Peak to Peak, No. 19 Longmont, No. 22 Holy Family. 2A — No. 8 Dawson.
Much of the 5A Granite Peaks League picture has been defined by two games up to this point.
On April 17, Fairview (8-3, 2-1 5A GPL) survived a late penalty try from Broomfield (7-4-2, 2-1) to beat the Eagles for the first time in more than a decade. Five days later, Legacy (8-1-2, 2-0-1) beat the Knights behind two goals from freshman Anaya Bursey to take sole lead of the league.
Whether the Lightning can hold on will largely come down to Tuesday in its game against Broomfield, which is back and running strong with the return of star sophomore Marin Kotschau, who spent a week playing with USA’s under-age 16 team in Spain.
Boulder (10-1-2, 4-0 5A/4A Rocky Mountain League), meanwhile, put itself in prime position to win its first league title in recent memory after Ane Mackey’s goal on Thursday stood up in a 1-0 win over Riverdale Ridge. The Panthers spent a few days as the No. 1 seed in 5A before losing to the Eagles on April 10.
Mead (9-2, 4-0), winners of seven straight, is a game up and owns the tiebreaker in the 4A/3A GPL over Skyline (4-8-1, 3-1), which is on a streak of its own, winners of its past three.
Overall, 15 local teams are currently inside CHSAA soccer’s playoff projections. Boulder in 5A, and Prospect Ridge Academy and Jefferson Academy in 3A, are current top-five seeds.
Lacrosse
• The regular season ends May 3 for both boys and girls lacrosse. The 5A and 4A boys postseason field is made up of 24 teams apiece. The 5A girls field is 16, while 4A is 24.
Postseason picture: 5A boys — No. 8 Fairview, No. 18 Erie, No. 23 Boulder, No. 24 Monarch. 4A boys — No. 20 Holy Family. 5A girls — No. 4 Fairview. 4A girls — No. 5 Mead, No. 11 Holy Family.
Mead (11-4, 3-0 4A North League) is done with the regular season after closing on a four-game winning streak. The Mavericks, at fifth in the standings, will host in the opening round of the postseason. Holy Family (8-3, 1-1), at 11th, could, too, if it can finish strong over its last two games of the season.
The Tigers’ Emma Brusate leads the state in goals with 83. The Mavs’ Lucy Connors is second with 75.
Fairview, meanwhile, is in position to host a girls and boys first-round postseason game.
For Fairview’s girls (10-3, 4-1 5A West League) to make a play at a league title, it’ll need a win over 5A No. 6 Colorado Academy (7-5, 4-0) on Friday and two losses from No. 1 Valor Christian (10-1, 5-0) this week.
That may be a reach. However, the Knights, currently fourth in the state rankings, should hold onto a top-five playoff seed if they can take care of business against Chatfield (6-7, 1-4) on Tuesday.
The Knights’ boys (9-3, 5-2 5A League 2) bounced back from a loss to Lakewood (7-6, 4-2) with a win over Erie (6-6, 2-5) last week. Fairview’s Kai Modica is second in the league in goals (35) and points (56).
Injury-riddled Monarch (5-9, 2-5) played 5A No. 5 Ralston Valley close in a 10-7 loss on Wednesday. The Coyotes are sitting in the classification’s last postseason spot with one game to go — home against Lakewood on Friday.
Boys volleyball
• The end of the regular season is Tuesday. The top 24 teams in 5A are at regionals this weekend, and from that, eight teams will compete at the state tournament, May 8-10.
Postseason picture: 5A — No. 4 Legacy, No. 13 Niwot, No. 29 Centaurus and No. 36 Boulder are currently on the outside of it. 4A — no local teams.
UCLA commit Rafael Urbina leads Legacy (17-3, 5-3 5A Northern League), which started the season 14-0 but has lost two of its past three matches.
The Lightning swept Niwot (13-9, 5-3) in three sets Tuesday, yet while the Cougars are on a current three-game slide, they’re still comfortably in position to make the 24-team regional field.
Boulder (7-14, 4-5), meanwhile, won its final game of the regular season on Thursday, beating Riverdale Ridge in five sets behind senior Silas Meek’s 28 kills. The Panthers, however, look to be out of the playoff picture.
Centaurus (14-8, 2-5) is also on the outside of the playoff standings for now, but it may have a chance to get in if it can upset No. 4 Legacy on Tuesday.