Arapahoe Upsets St. Mark's in Overtime Thriller

By Nathan Max
WSL Executive Editor

Senior attackman Hunter Hall scored the game-winning goal with 2:18 remaining in overtime to give No. 7 Arapahoe a dramatic, 8-7 victory over No. 1 St. Mark’s in the final game of the Warriors’ road trip to Dallas on Thursday.

Hall scored an unassisted goal from eight yards to give Arapahoe its second win in three games in Texas. The Warriors opened the trip with a victory over No. 13 Dallas Episcopal before they fell to No. 2 Highland Park.

“It really means a lot to know that we can play with some of the top competition in the country,” Arapahoe head coach Guy Cerasoli said. “It will give us confidence going back to play the top competition in Colorado.”

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This was supposed to be a rebuilding year for the defending Colorado state champions, who graduated 18 seniors off last year’s title-winning team. But that hasn’t turned out to be the case so far. With Thursday’s win, Arapahoe (5-1) has clearly demonstrated it is once again the team to beat in Colorado.

Senior middie Dylan Leary and senior attackman Greg Colosimo each finished with three points on a goal and two assists, and Hall, sophomore middie Jack Bobzien and junior middie Brett Menter all scored twice.

Defensively, goalie Scott Thompson saved 13 shots, including one from point-blank range in the waning moments of regulation.

In defeat, senior middie Fred Addy dished three assists, senior attackman Jeff Perkins and senior middie Elliot Chang-Tung each scored a pair of goals, and senior attackman Charles Branch, junior middie Gil Cassagne and junior attackman Matt Murphy all scored once.

In the cage, senior goalie David Christoff saved 12 shots for the Lions (8-1), who had their season-opening, eight-game winning streak snapped.

“Arapahoe’s got a great team,” St. Mark’s head coach Hayward Lee said. “We are very appreciative of them coming to Dallas. That was an excellent game tonight, and it will help both teams improve.

“I give Arapahoe a lot of credit. The Arapahoe kids showed a lot of toughness and grit.”

St. Mark’s led 3-0 at the end of the first quarter and 4-3 at halftime before the Warriors came back to take a 6-5 lead at the end of the third quarter.

Arapahoe led 7-6 after the teams traded goals to start the fourth, but Branch scored a late equalizer, tying it up, 7-7, with 1:55 remaining in regulation. After Branch’s goal, St. Mark’s got possession back and had a chance to win it in the dying seconds.

However, Thompson made the save of the season when he stymied St. Mark’s on an open look from just off the crease with three seconds to play.

“I thought the Arapahoe goalie played a terrific game,” Lee said. “He really stood on his head when they needed him.”

That sent the game into overtime, where Hall came through in the clutch to score the biggest goal of his high school career.

“It was just a tremendous team effort,” Cerasoli said. “We had contributions from all across the board. We’re really happy we ended the trip on a high note, and we’re heading back to Colorado carrying that momentum.”

Nathan Max reported from the WSL news desk in Murrieta, Calif.