The Class 4A Frozen Four was played at the University of Denver’s Magness Arena on Thursday night. Colorado Academy and Cheyenne Mountain advanced to the championship games by eliminating Battle Mountain and Steamboat Springs, respectively.
(3) Colorado Academy 3, (2) Battle Mountain 1
DENVER – Four years ago, the Colorado Academy ice hockey team lost each one of the 17 games the Mustangs played.
Now in the postseason for the first time ever, the Mustangs won 3-1 over defending champion Battle Mountain on Thursday night in the Class 4A Frozen Four at the University of Denver’s Magness Arena. The victory propelled the Mustangs into the championship game.
Not bad for a team’s postseason debut so far.
“I think it has everything to do with the quality of the guys in the locker room and the guys behind the bench,” Mustangs senior Jack Gerber said. “We switched up our coaching staff two years ago and I think it made all the difference. They brought in a winning culture that everyone wanted to rally around and be a part of, and I think everyone just bought in. Everyone brought their best and that showed tonight.
“Everybody is just more excited than we could ever be.”
Things didn’t look good for No. 3 Colorado Academy (17-3) midway through the game when No. 2 Battle Mountain (14-7) took the first lead with a goal by Carter Large with 8 minutes, 15 seconds remaining in the second period. Gerber, however, responded with a goal of his own with 1:52 left in the period to send the game into the third knotted at 1-1.
With 6:05 left in the game, Gerber’s second goal of the day gave the Mustangs a 2-1 lead. With 2:26 left on the clock, Mustangs senior Jack Pashel, who had what would have been the go-ahead goal waived off earlier in the period, scored to seal the victory and Colorado Academy’s first state championship game appearance.
“That was huge,” Colorado Academy head coach Richie Nelson said. “Just like life, when they throw a rock in your way you’ve got to just keep moving. That’s what we told the boys. It had to be a weight off his shoulders to see that puck hit the back pad.”
The Mustangs will take on top-seeded Cheyenne Mountain in the championship game on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. Thinking of where the 6-year-old program was just a few short years ago, Nelson said he’s expecting a great game and for it to be a well-deserved experience for his team.
“You look at my senior leadership, they never quit,” Nelson said. “They dealt with those 0-for-whatever seasons and that’s gotta be hard on you mentally. A lot of people would probably fold but they kept pushing and that heart and dedication to the program is that put the product on the ice that you see. That’s really led the way for the juniors, sophomores and freshmen to keep it going and not have to start from scratch.”
(1) Cheyenne Mountain 6, (4) Steamboat Springs 0
DENVER – It took a period to get comfortable on a strange sheet of ice, but once they did the Cheyenne Mountain Red-Tailed Hawks looked right at home.
They peppered the Steamboat Springs net with 12 shots in the first period, none of which broke through but the three goals in quick succession gave them all they needed in terms of a lead. The final buzzer sounded with the Hawks getting a 6-0 win to advance to the Class 4A hockey championship game.
It’s a sweet moment for coach Erik Austin who helped Cheyenne Mountain win state as a player in 1996. Now he’ll have a chance to lead the Hawks to their first hockey championship since 2004. They played for the unclassified state championship in 2006 but lost to Peak to Peak.
“If you go to our school there are banners on banners,” Wyatt Furda said. “We’ve won so many state championships in hockey, then in 2004 it just stops. There’s nothing there for almost 20 years.”
After losing in last year’s semifinals, there was no way the Hawks were going to let themselves come up short of the title game two years in a row.
Picking up right where he left off in the quarterfinals, Noah Bonnett scored a power play goal which gave the Hawks the sudden confidence that they could get the puck by Steamboat goalie Indi Kretzschmar. Furda followed up 24 seconds later with the first of his two goals on the day.
“The floodgates opened,” Furda said. “Once you see your buddy score, now I have to go out there and score.”
The goals came right after Cheyenne Mountain goalie turned away the Sailors’ best chance of the day. A shot from Max Kenney was gloved by Jeremy Renholm and it was shortly after that sequence that the Hawks went on the power play and Bonnett broke the scoreless tie.
“We know we can get it passed them (at that point),” Renholm said. “And we knew they were going to keep coming.”
The team is now trying to contain their emotions when thinking about Tuesday. They’re pumped about playing on the ice at Ball Arena and they also know that their mission to win a state championship isn’t complete.
In order to get there, the Hawks will continue to rely on each other, which isn’t a problem considering the how close the teammates are to each other.
“They’ve been in the weight room, they’ve been working off the ice and I think they genuinely enjoy each other,” Austin said. “It’s been fun. They wanted to get back here today and play better than they did last year.”
They outshot the Sailors 35-12 and went 2-for-3 on power plays while killing every Steamboat power play chance. That’s the very definition of playing better. And they’ll try to match that level of play on Tuesday in the state championship game.