CENTENNIAL — No.3-ranked Regis Jesuit hockey got four goals and an assist from Cale Woodley, Cade Alcock had seven points and the Raiders handled Kent Denver 13-0 on Friday night.
Alcock finished with two goals and five assists in the game. Jack Davidson and Michael Baer each scored two goals, as well, for Regis.
Columbine has joined CHSAANow.com’s hockey rankings this week at No. 9.
The Rebels are 2-1-0 to start the season, with the lone loss coming to Dakota Ridge, which is No. 6 this week.
Ralston Valley held on to the No. 1 spot after extending its winning streak to 31 games. The Mustangs received all seven first-place votes.
The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association. Polls are released each Monday.
Complete rankings are below.
[divider]
Voted upon by coaches and media members around the state. These rankings have no bearing on postseason seeding.
First-place votes are in parentheses.
Coaches and media members looking to vote should email rcasey@chsaa.org.
| Hockey | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RK | TEAM | W-L | PTS | PVS | LW |
| 1 | Ralston Valley (7) | 3-0-0 | 70 | 1 | 3-0-0 |
| 2 | Cherry Creek | 1-0-0 | 55 | 3 | 1-0-0 |
| 3 | Regis Jesuit | 1-0-0 | 53 | 2 | 1-0-0 |
| 4 | Monarch | 1-0-0 | 45 | 5 | 1-0-0 |
| 5 | Mountain Vista | 0-0-0 | 41 | 4 | 0-0-0 |
| 6 | Dakota Ridge | 2-0-0 | 27 | 7 | 2-0-0 |
| 7 | Air Academy | 1-0-0 | 19 | 8 | 1-0-0 |
| 8 | Heritage | 1-1-0 | 19 | 9 | 1-1-0 |
| 9 | Columbine | 2-1-0 | 18 | – | 2-1-0 |
| 10 | Doherty | 1-0-0 | 13 | 10 | 1-0-0 |
| Others receiving votes: | |||||
| Lewis-Palmer 10, Denver East 7, Resurrection Christian 7, Aspen 2. | |||||
| Dropped out | |||||
| Lewis-Palmer (6). | |||||
ARVADA — It’s been awhile since Ralston Valley hockey has suffered a slipup on the ice.
The two-time defending state champions haven’t suffered a blemish since a 4-4 tie against Resurrection Christian back on Feb. 11, 2013. The Mustangs most recent loss is even further in a rearview mirror. Chatfield beat Ralston Valley 2-1 on Jan. 30, 2013.
“If no one would have told me I probably wouldn’t realize it,” Ralston Valley coach Matt Schoepflin said of the Mustangs’ winning streak after a 7-0 victory Friday night against Steamboat Springs. “It’s not something I think about or the guys (players) think about. It’s a new team every year. As of right now we are 2-0.”
Ralston Valley, the two-time defending champion which is ranked No. 1 in the CHSAANow.com preseason hockey poll, improved its winning streak to 31 games and unbeaten streak to 35 games with the Foothills Conference win Friday night at the Apex Ice Center in Arvada.
“We can’t focus on last year’s team,” Ralston Valley forward Kyle Valdez said of the Mustangs’ undefeated 23-0 record to a second straight state championship last season. “We lost 17 seniors. It’s a completely different team. We just go out there and focus on getting the ‘W’.”
Valdez perhaps had the best looking goal on the night. His shot at the 9:01 mark in the first period zipped just under the crossbar to give Ralston Valley a 2-0 lead. Forward Alex Meisner opened the scoring at the 7:45 mark with a hardworking goal down low.
Ralston Valley took a 2-0 lead after the first period outshooting Steamboat Springs 18 to 4. Steamboat Springs junior goalie Jackson Draper was busy all game in making 40 saves.
“We want to outshoot every team we play,” Schoepflin of his squad, which finished with a 47-11 edge in shots. “We kind of preach that there is no such thing as a bad shot.”
The Mustangs had remarkable scoring balance with seven different players scoring the seven goals. A total of 13 players found their way on the score sheet for Ralston Valley.
“Coach Schoepflin looks for all lines to produce,” said Valdez, who had a two goals and an assist in the Mustangs’ 6-1 victory over Lewis-Palmer in their opener Tuesday.
Forward Jeff Moffat and defenseman Colton Hellman led Ralston Valley with multi-point nights. Moffat picked up a second-period goal and assist. Hellman contributed three assists.
“People like playing for Ralston Valley,” Moffat said. “It’s a great team, great coaches. It’s a lot of fun.”
Ralston Valley dominated puck possession against the Sailors, allowing just the 11 shots on goal while killing off three 2-minute minor penalties. Steamboat Springs had its best scoring opportunity with a 2-man advantage for more than a minute in the second period, but Ralston Valley goalie Scott Albertoni was solid in net in recording the shutout.
“We really stress defense first,” Schoepflin said. “When it comes to playoff time and big games you need strong defensemen. You need to be strong in your defensive end and have good goaltending.”
Ralston Valley is back on the ice for its first road game of the season on Saturday. The Mustangs face Mullen at The Edge in Littleton with an 8:30 p.m. puck drop.
Steamboat Springs (0-2) stays in the metro area to face Denver East at 4 p.m. Saturday at Big Bear Ice Arena in Denver.
CENTENNIAL — No. 2-ranked Regis Jesuit got two goals and an assist from Grant Johnson as the Raiders beat No. 9 Heritage 5-3 on Friday.
ARVADA — Cody Noel and Kyle Valdez each scored two goals as No. 1 Ralston Valley hockey beat No. 6 Lewis-Palmer 6-1 on Tuesday in its season opener.
Scott Albertoni made 16 saves for the Mustangs, who also got two assists from Ian Snedden.
Nicholas Roscoe had Lewis-Palmer’s lone goal.
Ralston Valley hockey, a two-time defending champion, opened up as the preseason favorite on Monday morning.
The Mustangs received four of the six-first place votes in CHSAANow.com’s poll, and totaled 56 points. They beat Monarch 4-1 last season for the second-straight title, and have won their past 30 games.
In fact, Ralston Valley has won 30-straight games and are 33-0-1 in its past 34 contests.
Regis Jesuit is No. 2 in the preseason poll. The Raiders made the semifinals last season.
Cherry Creek is No. 3, Mountain Vista is No. 4 and Monarch, runner-up each of the last two seasons, rounds out the top five.
Also ranked in the preseason: No. 6 Lewis-Palmer, No. 7 Dakota Ridge, No. 8 Air Academy, No. 9 Heritage and No. 10 Doherty.
The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association. Polls are released each Monday.
Complete rankings are below.
[divider]
Voted upon by coaches and media members around the state. These rankings have no bearing on postseason seeding.
First-place votes are in parentheses.
Coaches and media members looking to vote should email rcasey@chsaa.org.
| Hockey | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RK | TEAM | W-L | PTS | ||
| 1 | Ralston Valley (4) | 0-0-0 | 56 | ||
| 2 | Regis Jesuit (2) | 0-0-0 | 50 | ||
| 3 | Cherry Creek | 0-0-0 | 45 | ||
| 4 | Mountain Vista | 0-0-0 | 40 | ||
| 5 | Monarch | 0-0-0 | 39 | ||
| 6 | Lewis-Palmer | 0-0-0 | 36 | ||
| 7 | Dakota Ridge | 0-0-0 | 19 | ||
| 8 | Air Academy | 0-0-0 | 10 | ||
| 9 | Heritage | 0-0-0 | 9 | ||
| 10 | Doherty | 0-0-0 | 6 | ||
| Others receiving votes: | |||||
| Columbine 5, Resurrection Christian 4, Denver East 3, Steamboat Springs 3, Palmer 2, Pine Creek 2, Aspen 1, Standley Lake 1. | |||||
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]wo years, two excellent seasons, and two disappointing endings.
That’s the recent history of Monarch hockey, which has fallen just short of capturing its first ever state title in each of the past two seasons, losing in the championship game to Ralston Valley both times.
Being a perennial runner-up has proved to be a tough pill to swallow amid sky-high expectations for Monarch head coach Jimmy Dexter.
“We’ve had a couple disappointing seasons,” said Dexter on Thursday. “You know, the past three years we’ve only lost to Ralston Valley.”
The two teams know each other intimately — both compete in the Foothills Conference, and Ralston Valley defeated Monarch 5-1 in 2013’s championship game and 4-1 in 2014’s title affair.
Now, though, Monarch and Dexter have a new set of challenges to confront as they try to bust through an icy ceiling and final clinch that elusive state title.
“We’ve lost 16 kids from last year,” said Dexter. “But we do have a lot of young talent. So I’m excited and I think we’ll be right in it again this year.”
An exodus of that many players is always difficult to rebound from quickly. Fortunately for Monarch, Dexter’s new wave of talent has already spent some time together. Dexter coaches the a midget team in the offseason, and he likes what he’s seen from his young group, many of whom will appear for Monarch this season.
“We have a lot of young kids, a lot of ’98 birth years. But we’re going well in midget season, and I didn’t think we were going to compete that well,” said Dexter. “All of those kids that are playing, we just had try-outs, and all those kids are moving to the Monarch team.
“I’m pretty excited with what we have. I know we lost a lot but with the kids that are coming back and the new kids that are going to be on the team I think we’ll still be pretty strong.”
Monarch returns senior Walker Harris, the lone first-team player back from CHSAANow.com’s all-state team in 2013.
Harris may just be the top player in the state this season. He scored 17 goals and had 25 assists last season to lead the Foothills Conference with 42 points during the regular season, then added another seven points in the playoffs.
Dexter also highlighted the talents of sophomore Blake Bride, who Dexter said will be one of the team’s top players, as well as defenseman Justin White.
And as for Ralston Valley, Monarch’s biggest foil and the team that’s stood between them and their first state hockey championship? Dexter says there’s a definite rivalry there, and his new-look group is looking forward to taking another crack at the two-time defending champions.
“Definitely,” said Dexter, when asked if there was a budding rivalry between the two squads. “They lost a ton of kids, too. I was thinking that they weren’t going to be as good as usual, but looking at their midget team coming into the season, they’re going to be a strong team.
“We’re looking forward to playing them again and having another shot.”
[divider]
Defending Champion: Ralston Valley
Returning all-state players: Harris (1st); Joe Morgan, G, Mountain Vista (2nd); John Tower, D, Resurrection Christian (2nd).
Regular season begins: December 1
Playoffs begin: February 21
Championship: March 7 at the Budweiser Event Center (Loveland)
Hockey’s growth continues. Douglas County School District has announced its intention to add another hockey program beginning with the 2015-16 season.
It is the second new program in the span of two weeks. On Aug. 14, Poudre School District announced it would add a hockey team (along with girls lacrosse) in 2016-17.
The new program will be housed by Castle View, and give Douglas County Schools a second team. Mountain Vista already fields a program.
“We’ve had a lot of demand for it,” said Derek Chaney, the district athletic director of Douglas County School District. “It’s just a growing sport, at least in our area. We have a lot of good kids that get cut from the CHSAA team, and this creates another opportunity.”
The plan is to have Castle View serve Castle View, Douglas County, Chaparral, Legend and Ponderosa. Mountain Vista would be the team for students at Mountan Vista, ThunderRidge, Rock Canyon and Highlands Ranch.
Castle View will find ice time at the Colorado Sports Center in Monument as well as at the Edge Ice Arena in Littleton. Like Mountain Vista, it will be a self-funded program.
“We are extremely, extremely happy to know that Douglas County is growing their programs,” said Bud Ozzello, CHSAA assistant commissioner in charge of hockey. “That they can expand to two teams, and remain extremely competitive, that just adds to the mix.”
Both Castle View and the Poudre School District program — which hasn’t yet picked a host school — need to go before the hockey committee at their meeting next March to officially apply for inclusion.
Mountain Vista went 19-2-0 last season and advanced to the second round of the playoffs.
“Participation-wise, you’re going from 25 on a roster to 50 kids,” Ozzello said. “You can’t beat that.”
The sport’s growth doesn’t look to be slowing anytime soon.
“That’s now two new schools,” Ozzello said. “And we have a couple others potentially coming outside of the Metro area.”
Hockey’s semifinals and championship game have a new home for the next two seasons: The Budweiser Events Center in Loveland.
Home to the ECHL’s Colorado Eagles and the Indoor Football League’s Colorado Ice, the Events Center has a capacity of 5,289. It also hosts the Class 1A boys and girls state basketball tournaments.
The agreement, finalized on Friday, runs for the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons.
“We’re thrilled to partner with the Budweiser Events Center,” said CHSAA assistant commissioner Bud Ozzello, who administers hockey. “We had the opportunity to visit, and they welcomed us with open arms and want to be venue for our state championship. They are extremely excited. Not only do they host 1A basketball, they’ll play host to hockey for the next two years.”
A new championship site was needed when it became clear that the Denver Coliseum had date conflicts for the coming season. The Coliseum hosted the semifinals and championship game last season. Prior to that, the games were at the University of Denver for two years, and also spent one season at the Pepsi Center. The World Arena in Colorado Springs has also hosted in the past.
Following a search, the Budweiser Events Center presented the best option for the coming seasons.
This season, the semifinals will move to a Thursday — March 5, 2015. Games will be at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. The championship game, per usual, will be on a Saturday (March 7), with the game at 2 p.m.
In 2016, the semifinals will shift back to a Friday (March 4). Again those games are scheduled for 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. That championship game will also be on a Saturday (March 5), though that time has not yet been set.
Ralston Valley won last year’s championship over Monarch.
AURORA — Poudre School District will add girls lacrosse and ice hockey in the 2016-17 school year, according to an official declaration sent to the CHSAA office on Thursday.
The host school in both cases is still to be determined.
This is just the latest addition in hockey, which continues to grow. This season, Denver East will join the Peak Conference. Mountain Vista, Cherry Creek and Resurrection Christian have all added programs in recent years.
“We’re always excited to expand our sport, something that’s been happening over the last few years,” said CHSAA assistant commissioner Bud Ozzello, who oversees hockey.
Additionally, Coronado had been considering dropping it’s hockey program, but has decided to keep it.
The new girls lacrosse program will be the first addition in recent years. It will be the second team in Northern Colorado, joining Thompson Valley.
“It’s a positive for the sport to get some more representation in the Northern part of the state,” said assistant commissioner Harry Waterman, who administers lacrosse. “Hopefully it’ll give (Poudre’s district program and Thompson Valley) two years to start developing more players in each of their districts.”
More growth in girls lacrosse could be on the way.
“There’s signs of us gaining some more girls programs in the next cycle on top of this,” Waterman said.