By James Joseph
WSL Senior Features Writer

Arapahoe Coach Guy Cerasoli has trouble pinpointing defenseman Davis Gunter’s defining game or play of the 2009 season.

Too many to choose from.

The 5-foot-11, 200-pound Gunter was a steady force for the Warriors throughout their state championship season. He always marked the opponent’s best player. He always came up with a standout effort.

“Pretty much every game he was rock solid – I don’t even know if he had one let down,” Cerasoli said of Gunter, who is ranked No. 10 among high school players in the Western United States, according to the WSL Elite 25 selection committee. “Even when he went up against guys who were All-Americans, he shut them down.”

Arapahoe won 15 straight games to finish the 2009 season, and during that stretch opponents averaged just 4.1 goals per game. Gunter had a lot to do with that. Not only did he handle the opponent’s top threat, he also quarterbacked the Warriors’ defense.

“I consider him to be the defensive field general out there, directing the troops, calling out slides and assignments, making sure guys are in the right matchups,” Cerasoli said. “He’s got great leadership skills and the whole team respects him.”

While an offensive force on the football field – he rushed for 1,700 yards in 10 games during the 2009 season and earned honorable mention all-state honors – Gunter has been a defenseman since he began playing lacrosse all the way back in second grade.

“I just love it,” Gunter said. “My whole mentality is I don’t let the guy across from me score a goal.”

That Gunter has played for so long helps account for what Cerasoli calls the defenseman’s “incredible technical skills” and “extra-sensory perception of what could happen.”

Gunter is hoping to continue his playing career at the Air Force Academy. He said he’d likely go to the academy prep school for a year prior to heading to the academy.

Before that, however, Gunter has his sights set on another state title.

“To win it again would be pretty sweet,” he said.