DENVER — With the puck at the blue line, Ralston Valley’s Greg Dyba dished it off to Austin Resseguie to his left and drifted into the offensive zone.
Resseguie retrieved the puck along the left boards and swiped a backhanded centering pass across the crease. All Dyba had to do was leave his stick on the ice.
He did. He scored. And regained a two-goal lead, as well as any momentum Monarch had stolen just 41 seconds earlier.
Dyba’s goal came with 1:02 to play in the first period, and it ultimately proved to be back-breaking. His goal made it 3-1, and Ralston Valley locked things down defensively thereon.
The Mustangs added an empty-netter with 26 seconds to play, and captured their second-straight hockey championship with a 4-1 win over Monarch at the Denver Coliseum on Saturday.
“We’ve always kind of been — throughout this year, when the other team gets one, we get one right back,” Dyba said after the game. “So we kinda knew we had to get that and it would end up helping us in the long run.”
Added Victor Lombardi, who scored two big first-period goals: “That allows you to get all that confidence back that you lost, and just be able to regain and your momentum.”
This championship comes with an unblemished record — 23-0-0. The Mustangs have now won their past 29 games dating back to last season and are 32-0-1 over their past 33.
“There are high expectations with this school and this team,” Ralston Valley coach Matt Schoepflin said. “But that’s OK. Because I think that we want to play games like this. You know, you want to be in these situations, you relish these situations.
“It’s big for us and we’re going to keep trying to build as strong a program as we can and every year give it the best go we can and see what happens. Definitely, back-to-back is pretty special.”
Saturday started with a bit of a fiasco for the Mustangs. Starting goalie Zack LaRocque’s skate blade snapped in half the moment he stepped on the ice for warmups.
He was replaced by backup James Madok minutes before the puck dropped, and then went to work on his skate with his dad and members of CHSAA’s event team. It was the second time this week it had happened — another blade broke in practice, forcing LaRocque to replace it.
“I knew I couldn’t panic in a situation like that, so I just kept my calm,” LaRocque said.
Madok played great for the game’s first few minutes, and settled in once Ralston Valley grabbed a 1-0 lead on Lombardi’s wrist-shot from low in the faceoff circle.
LaRocque returned with 8:38 to play in the first period after installing another new set of blades.
(Matt Matthewes/MVPSportsPics.com)
“We were laughing,” Schoepflin said, “because last year we got to this point in the state semifinal game down at DU, and about 15 minutes before the game, Zack comes to us and says, ‘Hey, I’m sick, I can’t start.’ So our backup goalie plays the state semifinal game last year. On our bench, we had a good joke, ‘Hey, he always makes things interesting.’
“But at the same time, we had confidence in James,” Schoepflin continued. “He’s a senior this year, I think he played incredible, made some huge saves for us and definitely — he was ready to go, too. And I think that speaks to our team as a whole, too, how we stayed ready and were able to get the job done tonight.”
Said LaRocque, of joining the game in progress: “It was different. James, he played great when I was getting my stuff fixed.”
Lombardi scored his second goal three minutes after LaRocque returned.
Monarch — which was runner-up to Ralston Valley last year, too — rallied when Dima Kyle deflected a shot in from the point with 1:42 to go in the period. At that moment, the game seemed to shift. The Coyotes had a huge goal in the period’s final minutes, something that can often lead to a spark for the rest of the game.
But then Ralston Valley got an even bigger goal, even later in the period. And recaptured all the momentum Monarch had siezed.
“It was real big that we came right back and got that two-goal lead back,” Schoepflin said. “They definitely had some momentum swings during the game and they played a great game. It was a big moment for us, too, but we stayed the course and found a way to win.”
Lombardi, Ralston Valley’s captain, finished with the two goals and also had two assists for a four-point night. Dyba also had two goals and two assists, while Resseguie assisted on three goals.
More photos. (Matt Matthewes/MVPSportsPics.com)More photos. (Matt Matthewes/MVPSportsPics.com)
DENVER — There was no panic. Ralston Valley has been here, on this stage, many times before. Shoot, it was just last season that the Mustangs were hoisting hockey’s championship trophy above their heads.
So, no, an early 1-0 deficit was no cause for concern.
Kyle Valdez scored a big answer goal with five minutes left in the first period which ignited Ralston Valley’s bench. Victor Lombardi scored just 29 seconds later as the Mustangs took a 2-1 lead, one they would never relinquish as they skated away with a 6-2 win in the state semifinals at the Denver Coliseum.
(Tim Visser/TimVisserPhotography.com)
Valdez’s goal was “huge to get us back in the game and get it tied up real quick,” Ralston Valley coach Matt Schoepflin said afterward.
“There wasn’t a whole lot of panic on our bench,” he added. “I think that’s kind of one of the luxuries we have this year — we have a veteran group, we have 17 seniors. Roughly half that locker room in there won the state title last year. We’ve been in this situation before, we’ve played in big games.”
Upstart Cherry Creek, in the midst of a major one-season turnaround, jumped all over the Mustangs as the game started.
Matt Jung turned that energy into the 1-0 lead just 4:26 in. That held up until Cherry Creek’s Mark Saxelby went off for roughing and Valdez scored on the ensuing power play with 5:08 to go in the period.
“That was big to change the momentum in the game,” Valdez said. “That power-play goal really set the tone for the rest of the game.”
Lombardi then took a pass from Greg Dyba in front of the net, made one deke to his left and made it 2-1. Quickly, swiftly.
Three minutes later, Dyba streaked in from the right side, cut in front of the net and beat Cherry Creek goalie Aaron Jatana low to his right. It was 3-1. Just like that.
“We’re kind of a momentum team,” Schoepflin said. “If we get one, we like to stay hungry and get two, and then get three. Our big philosophy is just come wave after wave so it’s not just one line, it’s everybody.”
Neither team scored in the second period — despite six combined power play chances, including a 5-on-3 for each team — and it was Ralston which came out firing in the third.
(Tim Visser/TimVisserPhotography.com)
Austin Resseguie scored 3:05 into that period. Tyler Morpurgo added a power-play tally on a deflection in front of the net 2:46 later. It was 5-1 in a flash.
Garrett Schaff added Ralston Valley’s final goal of the night, and Matt Jung closed the scoring for Cherry Creek.
Cherry Creek won just two games last season, but made a surprising run to the semifinals this year. The Bruins are set to carry a lot of momentum into next season.
However, Friday night, Cherry Creek finished 0-for-5 on the power play, and was outshot 48-17.
“We’ve got the best penalty killers in the league,” Valdez said. “Just staying active on them and not giving them any time to move around.”
Ralston Valley has allowed just 38 shots in three playoff games, and is constantly in shooting lanes.
“A big thing with this group is sacrifice, so if that means you have an opportunity to block a shot, you gotta block a shot,” Schoepflin said. “It’s part of it. We talk about it a lot, we focus on it a lot, and I think everyone in that room has definitely bought into that.”
The Mustangs have now won their past 29 games in a row, and are 32-0-1 over their past 33. Add in the fact that Ralston Valley is the defending champion, and it’s clear who the team to beat is in this sport.
“I think we’ve had a target on our back for the last couple of years,” Schoepflin said. “We talk a lot about how we’re going to get every team’s best game.”
Saturday, in the state championship, they’ll get another team’s best shot.
“This was our goal from day one of the summer,” Schoepflin said. “This is their goal, this is where they wanted to be. I think we’ll be ready (Saturday).”
DENVER — He waited, waited, waited and time slowed. Monarch’s Cameron Taggart had the game on his stick.
It was 1-1 late in the state hockey semifinals, less then eight minutes remained. Taggart had corralled a rebound in front of the Regis Jesuit net during a 5-on-3 power play, and sat in the low slot looking for an opening.
Regis Jesuit goalie Sam Harden had been a wall most of the night, and as Taggart waited, he finally found an opening. And buried a shot in the top left corner. The goal held up as Monarch returned to the championship game with a 2-1 win over the Raiders at the Denver Coliseum on Friday.
(Tim Visser/TimVisserPhotography.com)
“It was real slow,” Taggart said. “It was just so slow, and then finally it just opened up just enough for me to squeak it by.”
Said Monarch coach Jimmy Dexter: “Unbelievable that he had that kind of patience to wait and wait and look and kind of find that spot.”
Taggart’s goal came exactly 2:10 after Monarch was finally able to crack Harden. Walker Harris, the Foothills Conference’s leading scorer during the regular season, snuck a shot from the point past Harden, who was screened by Tagart. That, too, came on the power play.
“He did a great job,” Harris said of Taggart, “got right in front, and (Harden) didn’t see it. I just put a good shot on it.”
The goal ended more than two periods of frustration caused by Regis Jesuit’s outstanding defensive scheme which had limited scoring chances to that point. The frustration was compounded by the fact that the Raiders led 1-0 at the second intermission.
“We were definitely frustrated” after the first two periods, Dexter said. “It was nice to come in between periods and get these guys together and say, ‘We’ve got to come together as a team.’
“I see guys pouting, I see heads down. I’m like, ‘Guys, it’s 1-0. We can score four goals in a period easily.’ I’m like, ‘Let’s be positive and let’s do it.’ And they responded.”
(Tim Visser/TimVisserPhotography.com)
Monarch came out a different team in the third period.
“We’re family,” Walker said, “and we didn’t want our season to end there.”
Walker’s goal, especially, signaled a huge shift in momentum.
“You could see it,” Dexter said. “They knew once they got one by Sam, they could get another. He’s tough to beat.”
Monarch did add another when Taggart notched his on the 5-on-3 opportunity. But the Coyotes couldn’t look ahead to Saturday’s title game quite yet — they took two minor penalties in the game’s final six minutes.
And, if not for some outstanding goaltending from Ian Oden, who finished with 22 saves, Monarch’s night might have ended much differently. Monarch killed both despite a flurry of Regis chances.
“It was scary. The last three minutes of the game we were holding on with taking penalties,” Dexter said. “Ian just stood on his head that last few minutes. Unbelievable. I don’t know, he wanted it.
“We’ve been waiting for our goalies to win us a game all year and Ian finally did it. It was awesome.”
Connor Brennan scored Regis Jesuit’s only goal on a 5-on-3 advantage. Harden finished with 29 saves.
The Coyotes now get their rematch with Ralston Valley in Saturday’s championship, which is at 3:30 p.m. The two teams met in last season’s championship game and the Mustangs skated off with a 5-1 win. Ralston also won 4-1 when the teams met this season on Jan. 14.
“We so excited. We need revenge,” Taggart said. “We’ve been waiting for this all year, to get revenge.”
“We got back (to the title game), we did what we needed,” Harris added. “Can’t wait for 3:30 (Saturday). We’ve got to come out and play better than we did today.”
The hockey committee met at the Denver Coliseum on Friday. (Ryan Casey/CHSAANow.com)
DENVER — Hockey’s Frozen Four begins at the Denver Coliseum on Friday night. This time next year, might the state have two Frozen Fours?
It’s very possible, but there are hurdles yet to clear.
At its annual meeting at the Coliseum on Friday morning, the hockey committee voted to split the sport into two classifications — 5A and 4A.
The prevailing thought among committee members was that a second classification will make games more competitive, help the sport grow, and could potentially save programs with dwindling numbers.
“When the committee looked at competitive balance, they realized that changes had to be made,” said CHSAA assistant commissioner Bud Ozzello, who oversees hockey. “Having one classification made it more difficult for smaller schools to complete. After much discussion, they voted in favor of making two classifications to help not only grow the sport but hopefully help maintain the competitive balance.”
The classes would be determined based upon the enrollment number splits used in other sports, and would result in 16 teams in 5A and 13 in 4A. Those numbers could change based upon playdown requests that would need to be approved.
Committee chair Chad Broer, athletic director at Chatfield high school, will present the committee’s report — including the classification split — to the Legislative Council in April. That Council would then need to approve the change.
Hockey has had one classification since it was first sanctioned in 1976.
A split into 5A and 4A would give each class eight-team playoff brackets. Playoff seeding would continue to be determined by conference finish. First-round and semifinal games would likely be hosted at home sites, with both championship games at one venue.
A survey went out to hockey athletic directors this week, with 27 of 29 responding. According to that survey, 59 percent are in favor of a split, with 41 percent against it.
Cherry Creek is in hockey’s semifinals. (Mark Adams)
Cherry Creek’s hockey program returned from a 24-year hiatus prior to last season. And the Bruins, not unexpectedly, won just two games.
Well, they’ve just won two games in two days of the state hockey playoffs. And now Cherry Creek is headed to the Frozen Four.
The Bruins Ryan Worley had two goals, Cody Oakes had two assists and Quinton Reynolds made 21 saves in a 5-2 win over Lewis-Palmer on Saturday evening. Mark Saxelby, Michael Dubus and Nick McWharter also scored for Cherry Creek.
“You know, we’ve been getting better every week,” Cherry Creek coach Jeff Mielnicki said on Saturday night. “Our goal, initially, was to make the (playoffs). … They’ve put in a lot of time and effort that, now, the rewards are there.”
Lewis-Palmer twice had one-goal leads that were erased.
“Now’s the time of year that it’s about heart and will,” Mielnicki said.
Lewis-Palmer led 1-0 after Zachary Williams’ goal midway through the first period, but Saxelby scored with 1:03 to go in the period to even things up.
“It was perfect timing, because Lewis-Palmer came out heavy,” Mielnicki said. “It felt like we won the period.”
Nick Pavlik made it 2-1 Lewis-Palmer 4:47 into the second, and Worley scored an unassisted power play goal just over four minutes later to tie it up. Creek then opened the third with three-straight goals.
Cherry Creek has now won 17 games this season. The program has four state titles in its history, the last coming in 1981, prior to being shut down in 1988.
Cherry Creek will face defending champion Ralston Valley in the semifinals. Ralston Valley won an earlier meeting on Jan. 4, 3-0.
“I think they’re the best team out there,” Mielnicki said. “Our group has matured a lot, and we’ve learned from every game and made the adjustments. … Come Friday, I can’t predict the result, but I think it’ll be very competitive.”
Ralston Valley 4, Bishop Machebeuf 0. The defending champions have returned to the semifinals for the third year in a row.
Austin Resseguie had a pair of goals for Ralston Valley, which allowed just 17 shots. Zack Larocque had the shutout for the Mustangs. Greg Dyba and Kyle Valdez also scored for Ralston Valley.
Alan Rikli made 34 saves in net for Bishop Machebeuf.
Monarch 5, Columbine 2. The first period was scoreless. Their first goal was quickly answered. But Monarch is back in the Frozen Four for the second year in a row after scoring four of the game’s final five goals on Saturday.
Monarch’s Brett Kiyota opened the scoring at 8:15 of the second period with a short-handed tally, but Columbine’s Logan Seibold answered on the power play just a minute-and-a-half later.
Then Cameron Taggart got an unassisted tally in the final minute of the second period, and Monarch exploded for three goals in the third in the 5-2 win. Andrew Pickner had two of those goals, Joey Buchan the other.
Columbine’s Ashton Opperman made 35 saves in the losing effort. Logan Seibold had a goal and an assist.
Regis Jesuit 3, Mountain Vista 1. The Raiders scored two first-period goals which ultimately held up in the second-round win over the Golden Eagles.
Jack Jordan had two goals, and Jack O’Neil scored the other for Regis.
Tanner Gillis scored for Mountain Vista, but it came 12:12 into the third period and after the Golden Eagles already trailed 3-0.
Sam Harden stopped all 21 shots he faced for Regis Jesuit.
Bishop Machebeuf 3, Dakota Ridge 2. Anders Saarela scored on the power play 2:39 into overtime as the Buffaloes beat Dakota Ridge.
Machebeuf had led 2-1 on Noah Hernandez’s goal in the second period, but Dakota Ridge tied the game with 53 seconds left in regulation when Zach Czarnecki scored.
Then in overtime, with Dakota Ridge’s Zach Czarnecki off for hooking, Saarela put Machebeuf on through to the second round.
Buffs’ goalie Alan Rikli made 32 saves in the win.
Regis Jesuit 8, Doherty 2. Doherty’s Jordan Barrett scored eight seconds into the game, and that lone tally held up for a 1-0 lead into the second period.
Then Regis Jesuit’s Connor Harshman scored the first of his two second-period goals, and Connor Brennan also got on the board as the Raiders turned the tide.
Doherty’s Ty Snyder cut the new lead to 3-2 2:50 into the third period, but Regis totally put the game away from there. Jack O’Neil scored back-to-back power play markers, the Jacob Frishman, Grant Johnson and Carter Alcock iced things. Regis’ final four goals came in a span of just over five minutes.
Regis Jesuit only allowed 16 shots in the game, meaning goalie Sam Harden made 14 saves.
Cherry Creek beat Pine Creek 6-2 on Friday night. More photos. (Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)
Cherry Creek 6, Pine Creek 2. A three-goal spurt in the middle of the second period propelled the Bruins over the Eagles on Friday night.
With the score tied at 1 in the second period, Cherry Creek’s Ryan Worley and Owen Berman scored exactly two minutes apart to make it 3-1. Jackson Ross then added a short-handed goal, his second of the game, to extend the lead.
Pine Creek would score just before the second ended, but Matt Jung made it 5-2 in the third and Chris Nitchen added an empty-netter for Cherry Creek.
Aaron Jatana made 32 saves for the Bruins.
Ralston Valley 10, Pueblo County 0. The Mustangs scored 1:29 into the game and the deluge continued from there.
Kyle Valdez had two goals and two assists, including that opener, while Connor Schaff had two goals and an assist as Ralston Valley rolled.
The Mustangs scored four goals in both the first and second periods. They also only surrendered four shots all game long as James Madok notched a shutout.
Cody Noel and Ian Snedden each had a goal and two assists for Ralston Valley.
Monarch 13, Cheyenne Mountain 1. It was 1-1 after the first period. But once the second period started? That’s when Monarch started to roll.
The Coyotes scored six times in the second frame, including two from Walker Harris, then added six more in the third.
Dima Kyle had six points on two goals and four assists to lead Monarch. Harris finished with four points, including the goals and two assists. Andrew Pickner had two goals and an assist, while Cameron Taggart had a goal and two assists. Blake Bride had three assists.
Monarch allowed just seven shots.
Mountain Vista 8, Resurrection Christian 0. Bryan Hancock had a hat-trick and added an assist, while Cordt Fenstermaker assisted on five goals as the Golden Eagles moved to the second round.
Goalie Joe Morgan stopped at 17 shots he faces in shutting out Resurrection Christian.
Michel Karas and Kaden Steward each had a goal and an assist for Mountain Vista, and Brent Berthold added two helpers.
Lewis-Palmer 6, Steamboat 2. Following a scoreless first period, Lewis-Palmer quickly jumped ahead in the second when Casey McMullin scored 1:26 into the frame. The Rangers’ Nick Pavlik added goal four minutes later, and Lewis-Palmer never looked back.
Dmitri Smith had two goals for Lewis-Palmer, while Adam Schaefer and McMullin each had a goal and two assists.
Columbine 3, Heritage 0. Logan Seibold and Matt Meyer each had a goal and an assist as the Rebels moved on to the second round.
Jacob Seibold scored Columbine’s other goal, while Ashton Opperman was huge with 40 saves in the shutout.
MONUMENT — A three-goal spurt in the middle of the second period propelled Cherry Creek over Pine Creek on Friday night.
With the score tied at 1 in the second period, Cherry Creek’s Ryan Worley and Owen Berman scored exactly two minutes apart to make it 3-1. Jackson Ross then added a short-handed goal, his second of the game, to extend the lead.
