Boys lacrosse: Duplechin plays hero as Monarch rallies late to beat Fairview
Apr. 26—LOUISVILLE — Monarch senior Derek Duplechin is nearing 100 goals in his high school boys lacrosse career, scoring six more Wednesday afternoon to give him 96 with three games left in the regular season.
His latest one might go down as his favorite.
In a game the Coyotes looked to have fizzled away in the closing minutes, Duplechin came to the rescue against rival Fairview, scoring the go-ahead goal with 42 seconds remaining in a dramatic ninth consecutive victory for Monarch, 12-10.
"Beating Fairview, a great team win," said Duplechin, who at least briefly took back the state lead in goals with 45 after the game. "That's one I'm going to remember for a long time. It's a rivalry game and it was a close game. And I was able to be put in a great position to score in the end."
Fairview rallied to take its first lead since the opening quarter with three goals in 28 seconds in the fourth, the last coming from Hook Dancy with 3:36 left.
Monarch responded with a stop on defense and Duplechin, the senior committed to Florida Tech, followed up Griffyn Weber's equalizer 24 seconds earlier to grab back the lead. Across the net, he took a feed from his attacking co-star Graysen Jolly and had just enough space to jump and rip the winner past Fairview's Sam Rich from the right side.
Jolly iced the game 30 seconds later, notching a hat trick of his own.
"Good teams have good players, but great teams have great teammates. And we have great teammates," Monarch coach David Auday said. "Nobody got down on the bench. Some kids didn't even touch the field, but they felt in their heart that they could come back. And with all that energy we were able to transpose that into three big goals."
Flynn Leonard and Holden Potter also scored for Monarch (10-2, 4-0 5A League 2), which remained tied atop the league standings with Poudre School District.
The Stars played Ralston Valley later Wednesday night and will host the Coyotes Friday in a matchup that will go far in deciding the league champ.
So, the celebration for Wednesday's win will have to be short, Auday said.
It could've felt far different.
Duplechin scored three straight for his team in the third and the Coyotes led by as many as three in the second half. Potter's first goal of the season gave them a 9-7 lead with 5:27 left before the Knights scored three straight to take the lead.
But Monarch answered emphatically, beating Fairview for the second straight season.
"We're all really good friends and our team chemistry is great," Weber said. "So we're good in close situations and high-stress situations."
Kai Modica led the Knights (5-7, 1-4) with four goals, Kalen Carlyle had three and Hook Dancy had two. All are freshmen that make up a promising young core for the Knights.
Senior Drew Stinchcomb also scored in the loss.
"This game was a pivot point for us," Fairview coach Matthew Kelley said. "I think the team realized what it actually means to play a lacrosse game together. The youth is going away and the grit is coming in."
Monarch came into the game ranked eighth in 5A, per the CHSAA Selection and Seeding Index, the tool used to pick the 24-team postseason field.
Fairview, which is home against Chatfield Friday, came in 24th.
