There will be a new state champion in Colorado this season.

Sophomore middie Lucy Mower registered a team-high five points on three goals and two assists to lead No. 25 Kent Denver to a 13-9 victory over No. 4 Air Academy in a Colorado High School Activities Association quarterfinal Tuesday afternoon.

Sophomore middie Lucy Dikeou added four points on three goals and one assist, and sophomore attack Lizzie Strazza had three points on two goals and one assist to help the sixth-seeded Sun Devils (12-5) advance to the state semifinals. Kent Denver will next face the winner of tomorrow’s Denver East-Chaparral quarterfinal.

The Colorado state semifinals will be played Saturday, May 22.

On Tuesday, freshman attack Catherine Ellis finished with a goal and an assist, and four others scored once for Kent Denver, which trailed in the first half before taking over in the final 25 minutes.

In the cage, senior goalie Melissa Julia saved 10 shots.

“I’m elated,” Kent Denver head coach Zoe Smith said. “We’ve been working hard on sharing the ball and playing as a team. We started slow, but once we stepped up our communication on defense, it was over.”

In defeat, sophomore middie Erin Todd finished with a game-high six points on five goals and one assist, and sophomore middie Miranda Beal scored three goals for defending state champion Air Academy, the tournament's No. 3 seed, which finished the season 15-2.

Air Academy got off to a great start and led 5-2 in the first half, but Kent Denver turned it around from there.

“They have too many horses,” Air Academy head coach Sean Harmon said. “They have a lot of good ball players, and they outhustled us. They beat us to the loose balls, and that generated a lot of extra possessions for them.”