Cherry Creek hockey is up to No. 4 in this week’s hockey poll. (Matt Mathewes/MVPSportsPics.com)
With most of the top-ranked teams winning last week, there wasn’t much change to the CHSAANow.com hockey rankings this week.
Regis Jesuit continued to lead the poll with eight of the nine first-place votes and 89 total points. Mountain Vista and Ralston Valley held firm as the Nos. 2 and 3 teams, respectively.
Here’s what did change: Cherry Creek jumped Dakota Ridge for the No. 4 spot aby virtue of a 4-3 win over the Eagles on Saturday. Also, Doherty moved up to No. 9 this week.
The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association. Polls are released each Monday.
ARVADA — Andrew Frerich scored what proved to be the winning goal at 11:24 of the third period to lift No. 3 Ralston Valley hockey to a 2-1 win over Aspen on Saturday.
The game was scoreless going into the third period when Aspen took the lead on Henry Godfrey’s short-handed tally three minutes in. Tony Salazar tied the game for the Mustangs at 10:32, and Frerich scored less than a minute after that.
Scott Albertoni made 24 saves for Ralston Valley. Evan Morris made 16 saves for Aspen.
LITTLETON — No. 2 Mountain Vista hockey scored two goals late in the second period to break open the game, and went on to beat Heritage 5-2 on Saturday.
Reid Goodman, Tanner Gillis and Jordan Cox each had a goal and an assist for the Golden Eagles.
CENTENNIAL — A three-goal second period proved to be the difference as top-ranked Regis Jesuit hockey beat No. 9 Lewis-Palmer 6-2 on Friday.
Tied at 1 after one, Thomas Jahde broke the tie at 7:22 of the second, and Connor Brennan followed that with two goals to make it 4-1 before the third.
Kyle Nelson had two goals and an assist for the Raiders, who also got 18 saves from goalie Bret Jahde.
Ralston Valley goalie Scott Albertoni (31) makes a save on a shot from Dakota Ridge forward Jacob Gombos (5) during the third period Tuesday at the Edge Ice Arena. The two-team defending state champion Mustangs took a 3-0 victory over the Eagles. (Dennis Pleuss)
LITTLETON — There will be no undefeated season for Ralston Valley’s hockey team this year. However, the ultimate goal of a third straight state championship is still well within reach for the Mustangs.
“It kind of always was about winning a third (state title),” Ralston Valley captain Joe Millar said of the team’s focus for the two-time defending state champions. “We just want to win a third. After you win there is a ton of pressure to keep it. All we want to do is do it again.”
Ralston Valley is zeroing in on finishing strong the final few weeks of the regular season. The Mustangs, ranked No. 3 in this week’s CHSAANow.com hockey poll, took a big step in staying atop the Foothills League with a 3-0 victory against No. 4 Dakota Ridge on Tuesday at the Edge Ice Arena.
Ralston Valley forward Ian Snedden (21) and Dakota Ridge forward Andrew Endsley (2) battle on a face-off during the second period Tuesday. (Dennis Pleuss)
“Dakota Ridge gave us all we could handle. They sent a message beating Monarch 5-0 last week,” Millar said. “Now I think we proved we are still relevant in the state and a contender.”
The Mustangs (12-1, 9-0 in Foothills League) got first-period goals from Cole Noel and Tony Salazar to jump out to a 2-0 lead. Stefan Fruhwirth scored on a breakaway goal midway through the third period to make the score 3-0.
Goalie Scott Albertoni and the Mustangs’ defense did the rest handing Dakota Ridge (12-2, 7-2) its first shutout loss of the season.
“My team really helped me out a lot. The defense was the key,” said Albertoni as he improved his record to 7-1 in net on the season. “If I don’t have guys in front of me battling I can’t do much. Guys were definitely sacrificing their bodies and blocking shots.”
Dakota Ridge wasn’t able to take advantage of three power plays. The Eagles even had a 6-on-3 with less than two minutes to play after they pulled goalie Joey Owston, but Albertoni denied Dakota Ridge’s late barrage.
“Things always start in the defensive zone and works out from there,” Ralston Valley coach Matt Schoepflin said of the Mustangs’ fifth shutout victory on the season. “We have really been focusing on that and I think we can get better defensively. I definitely think we are moving in the right direction.”
Ralston Valley has been trending the right way after having its 42-game unbeaten streak dating back to the 2012-13 season snapped Jan. 23 with a 4-3 loss to No. 2 Mountain Vista. Since that loss, Ralston Valley has outscored its last four opponents 26-2.
Dakota Ridge tested the Mustangs early in the first period controlling puck possession for the first five minutes. Noel was able to deflect an outside shot past Owston at the 6:59 mark to give the Mustangs the lead and momentum.
“We realized we had to pick it up,” Millar said of the opening period. “We finally did.”
Dakota Ridge defenseman Jack Bonniwell (28) attempts to clear the puck out of the Eagles’ offensive zone as Ralston Valley forward Jeff Moffat (14) closes in during the first period Tuesday. (Dennis Pleuss)
Salazar scored with less than three seconds remaining in the first period to provide a 2-0 lead. Ralston Valley’s leading scorer skated in front of the net before firing a shot past Owston.
Fruhwirth’s breakaway goal in the third period provided a little extra cushion.
“Tonight is one of those character wins. Dakota Ridge is a good team, a gritty team,” Schoepflin said. “It maybe wasn’t the flashiest win, but I like the way our whole team competed tonight. Top to bottom we played a strong game.”
Dakota Ridge has another huge league test when the Eagles face No. 5 Cherry Creek at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at the Family Sports Center in Aurora. A third conference loss would likely keep Dakota Ridge from finishing in the top two of the league and prevent the Eagles from hosting a regional.
Ralston Valley also skates Saturday. The Mustangs return to their home ice at the Apex Ice Arena in Arvada where they will drop the puck against Aspen at 2:30 p.m.
Earning a top seed and hosting in the early rounds of the playoffs on Feb. 27 and 28 is a goal the Mustangs have had since the beginning of the season.
“I think it’s a big advantage to us playing on our home ice,” Schoepflin said. “We get great crowds and a great atmosphere.”
Ralston Valley forward Cody Noel (6) dives for a loose puck in front of Dakota Ridge goalie Joey Owston (1) and forward Tony Carpenito (17) during the Foothills League game Tuesday at the Edge Ice Arena. Noel’s scored in the first period on the way to a 3-0 victory for the Mustangs. (Dennis Pleuss)
LITTLETON — Latrell Harris scored what proved to be the game-winning goal with 5:29 remaining to lift No. 2 Mountain Vista hockey to a 5-4 win over No. 7 Air Academy on Monday.
Harris’ tally came on the power play, off assists from captain Bryan Hancock and Kaden Stewart. It helped stave off a furious rally from the Kadets, who trailed 4-1 midway through the second period.
Air Academy scored three-straight goals to make it 4-4 nine minutes into the final period, but Harris scored two minutes after that.
Hancock had a goal and two assists for Mountain Vista, while Jordan Cox scored two goals. Reid Goodman had three assists.
Travis Work, Luke Ciolli and Sam Thrutchley each had a goal and an assist for Air Academy.
Tanner Munn made 25 saves on 29 shots in the win for Mountain Vista. Air Academy’s Jason Stolz also made 25 saves.
Mountain Vista hockey is up to No. 2 in this week’s hockey rankings. (Ray Chen/ArrayPhoto.com)
After a week of big matchups, there is some major change to the top five teams in CHSAANow.com’s hockey poll.
Regis Jesuit stayed atop the poll for the second-straight week, but with last week’s Nos. 2 and 3 teams going 1-2-0, things changed behind the Raiders.
Mountain Vista shot up to No. 2 this week, and Ralston Valley is up to No. 3. Dakota Ridge is now No. 4, and Cherry Creek fell three places to No. 5.
Monarch dropped to No. 6.
Air Academy jumped Resurrection Christian for the No. 7 spot, while Lewis-Palmer rejoined the poll at No. 9. Doherty rounds out this week’s ranking at No. 10.
The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association. Polls are released each Monday.
SUPERIOR — Midway through the second period, and with momentum shifting towards Monarch, it was the state’s second-leading scorer who stepped up.
Regis Jesuit standout Cale Woodley had a tip-in on a centering pass from teammate Jack Kilkenny on the power play which put the Raiders up by two goals. It ultimately helped decide a high-paced contest between two of hockey’s best teams in the Foothills Conference.
The goal was Woodley’s 17th of the season and lifted him into a tie with Air Academy’s Jonathan Valtin for second in the league. It put Regis up 2-0 in a game that it would go on to win 4-1. But ultimately it was the goaltending of Sam Gartner that kept the top-ranked Raiders undefeated on Saturday night.
“He certainly had his eye on the puck tonight,” said Regis coach Dan Woodley of Gartner’s game. “There were a few chances early on that maybe he didn’t play as cleanly as he usually does but still found a way to make the save. So I knew early on that he had some good mojo.”
Gartner’s 26 saves paced Regis Jesuit (13-0-0 overall, 10-0 in conference play) over Monarch (9-2-1, 7-2-0) on a Friday night where the conference-leading Raiders were never quite able to impose their will.
As the first period began, it was easy to see that Monarch head coach Jimmy Dexter had his third-ranked team prepared for the game, as time and again Regis’ skilled forwards were stymied by good gap control on defense paired with a relentless back check by the Coyote forwards.
Confidence built as the turnovers piled up, culminating in a near miss by Monarch forward Brendan Van Haute’s near miss on a scramble in front of the Raiders’ net.
But ultimately, it would be Regis which put the only goal on the board in the first.
With two Coyotes in the box late in the period, Jack Kilkenny buried a backside rebound while sneaking down from the point during a scramble in front of Monarch goaltender Hunter Ingino.
Spurred on by its early success, Monarch again came out firing in the second. But after Van Haute had another near miss — a solid shot from the side of the net after winning a race to a loose puck near the Regis hash marks — and a wrister off the goalpost by the Coyotes’ leading scorer Blake Bride, Regis again notched the only goal of the period on Woodley’s power play tip-in in the second.
“They were the better team tonight but I’m still proud of my guys,” Dexter said. “Despite all their talent we were still just a couple of bounces away from winning that game.”
(Zach Fogg/CHSAANow.com)
Just over a minute into the third, the Coyotes would finally break, through, as the refs ruled a Gartner save on an Andrew Pickner shot to be behind the goal line. Regis wasted no time answering however, with Kilkenny picking up his second assist and third point of the contest.
The third tally seemed to dishearten the home team, who struggled to find a rhythm throughout a third period that got chippy in a hurry and degenerated into a series of unsuccessful power plays for both teams. But it was the early power plays that the Raiders credit for their victory.
“It was really clicking tonight,” Kilkenny said of the power play. “Fortunately I didn’t really have to do much (on the first goal) and was just sneaking down and found the puck on my stick so I buried it.”
For Regis, it was the first time the team had scored fewer than five in a game in their past six contests, but at 10-0 and in the driver seat in the conference, confidence level is sure to be sky high.
Meanwhile, Monarch’s loss marks their second in four days, but Dexter remains upbeat.
“These guys really stepped it up tonight,” Dexter said. “They don’t always come to play against lesser teams but I was so proud to see them bring it tonight the way they did.”
ARVADA — Cody Noel and Tony Salazar each had two goals, Scott Albertoni had a shutout, and No. 5 Ralston Valley hockey beat Battle Mountain 7-0 on Thursday.
