Steamboat Springs returned to the CHSAANow.com hockey ranking this week. (Mark Adams)
Bishop Machebeuf, coming off of consecutive wins last week and 5-1-0 over its past six games, has joined this week’s CHSAANow.com hockey poll.
The Buffaloes, ranked No. 9, were joined by No. 10 Steamboat Springs as new teams in this week’s poll.
Ralston Valley maintained its grip on the top spot, which the Mustangs have occupied since the first ranking. Mountain Vista returned to the No. 2 spot this week. Monarch is third.
Ralston Valley is back in the 5A girls basketball ranking this week. (Dennis Pleuss)
Following a one-week absence, Ralston Valley has returned to the CHSAANow.com girls basketball poll. The Mustangs are No. 10 in 5A.
Regis Jesuit extended its firm hold on the top spot in that ranking, and continued to be followed by No. 2 Highlands Ranch, No. 3 Fossil Ridge and No. 4 Grandview. Castle View moved up two places this week to round out the top 5.
Rock Canyon is sixth this week, and is followed by Cherry Creek and Lakewood. ThunderRidge is No. 9.
The other No. 1s also stayed put. Those are Bloomfield (4A), Holy Family (3A), Yuma (2A) and Caliche (1A).
The 3A ranking added Olathe at No. 10, while 2A added Sangre de Cristo, also at No. 10. 1A, too, has a new team at No. 10 this week: Gilpin County.
Following four more verbals over the weekend, Colorado high school football now has 29 players committed to Division I programs. That number is the most since 2010, when the state produced 33 Division I players, according to a search of the Rivals.com database.
Fairview wide receiver Sam Martin (Miami of Ohio), Heritage defensive end Conner Cain (Wyoming), Valor Christian lineman Ryan Cummings (Wyoming) and Ralston Valley quarterback Jacob Knipp (Northern Colorado) all announced commitments over the weekend.
Martin, who broke a number of state receiving records, announced his decision over Twitter on Sunday evening:
Officially committed to Miami of Ohio! HUGE thanks to everyone that has helped and supported me along the way through this journey! #Blessed
Martin also had offers from Eastern Washington, Illinois State, Lafayette, Montana State, New Mexico State, Northern Colorado and Rutgers, according to Rivals.com.
Cummings also announced his decision on Twitter on Sunday:
Cain had originally been committed to Eastern Washington. WyoSports.net has more on both Cummings and Cain’s commitments.
Christian James, publisher of ColoradoPrepReport.com, tweeted the news about Knipp’s commitment to Northern Colorado. Knipp set the state’s completion percentage record this season (70.2 percent).
Among Colorado’s other Division I verbals — encompassing both FBS and FCS schools — are Valor Christian running back Christian McCaffrey (Stanford), Cherry Creek running back Nate Starks (UCLA), Falcon athlete Kalen Ballage (Arizona State) and Mullen kicker/punter JK Scott (Alabama).
Ten players are staying home:
Loveland athlete John Freismuth, Douglas County running back Trey Smith, Pomona lineman Zach Stefo and Valor Christian defensive back Marcus Wilson will head to Colorado State.
Regis Jesuit lineback Terran Hasselbach, Silver Creek lineman Isaac Miller and Cherokee Trail defensive back Evan while will play at Colorado.
Knipp, Monarch lineman Kody Mommaerts and Pomona lineman Kendall Ryan will play at Northern Colorado.
In 2013, 21 players headed to Division I schools. There were 19 D-I products from Colorado in both 2011 and 2012.
National Signing Day is Feb. 5. All commitments are non-binding until recruits sign letters of intent on that day.
Ralston Valley junior goalie Zack LaRocque, middle, looks through traffic in front of the net as his defenders Martin Bakula (18) and Joe Millar (10) fight for position with Monarch forward David Neitenbach on Tuesday night. The Mustangs defeated Monarch 4-1 at Apex Ice Arena in Arvada to improve to 9-0-0 on the season. (Dennis Pleuss)
ARVADA — Ralston Valley proved Tuesday night it is still the team to beat on the ice this hockey season.
The defending state champions and No. 1-ranked Ralston Valley Mustangs cruised to a 4-1 victory against No. 2 Monarch at Apex Ice Arena. The Foothills League game was a rematch of last year’s state title game where Ralston Valley claimed the school’s first state championship in hockey with a 5-1 victory.
Ralston Valley players celebrate the Mustangs’ 4-1 victory against Monarch on Tuesday night at Apex Ice Arena in Arvada. (Dennis Pleuss)“I think both teams always get up for this game,” Ralston Valley coach Matt Schoepflin said after his Mustangs improved to 9-0-0. “Obviously with last year playing each other in the state final and battling for league last year there is always more emphasis on this game. We always get up for this game just like (Monarch) does. I think it was a good game tonight.”
Ralston Valley got up on the scoreboard with just less than seven minutes left in the first period. Sophomore Cody Noel scored off an assist from senior Greg Dyba just as time was running out on a Ralston Valley power play.
Monarch (7-1-0, 4-1-0 in league) took another 2-minute minor penalty late in the first period. Ralston Valley cashed in again as the power play carried that over into the second period. Dyba put in a rebound at the 51-second mark of the second period to give the Mustangs a 2-0 lead. Seniors Victor Lombardi and Austin Resseguie picked up assists on the goal.
Dyba picked up his second goal eight minutes later putting in a rebound off his own shot for a 3-0 lead for the Mustangs.
“Putting those (goals) in were huge for us,” Dyba said. “The second one really gave us momentum.”
Ralston Valley senior Ian Oughton (14) carries the puck into the Mustangs’ offensive zone while being chased by Monarch senior Kevin Palm on Tuesday night. (Dennis Pleuss)
Ralston Valley ended up having to work on its penalty kill for a good portion of the remainder of the second period. The Mustangs were called for six 2-minute minor penalties over the span of the final six minutes of the second period.
“This was a game tonight completely about special teams,” Schoepflin said. “For us our power play was big and we did some nice things there. There were definitely way too many penalties. It’s a credit to our PK (penalty kill) and Zack LaRocque in net. At the same time, if we expect to go far this year we have to stay out of the box and stay disciplined.”
Despite Ralston Valley taking 12 penalties on the night, the Coyotes couldn’t solve the Mustangs’ junior goalie.
“Zack stood on his head,” Dyba said of LaRocque, who had 28 saves on the night. “He had some huge saves on the penalty kill.”
The Mustangs all but sealed the game taking a 4-0 lead early in the third period. Noel scored on a breakaway for his second tally of the game.
LaRocque admitted after the game he was “frustrated” losing his shutout bid late in the game. Monarch finally got on the board when senior Brett Kiyota score off assists from juniors David Neitenbach and Walker Harris.
Ralston Valley seniors (from left to right) Victor Lombardi, Greg Dyba and Austin Resseguie celebrate one of Dyba’s two second-period goals Tuesday night at Apex Ice Arena. The defending state champions and No. 1 ranked Mustangs beat No. 2 Monarch 4-1 in Arvada. (Dennis Pleuss)
Monarch actually outshot Ralston Valley 29-24. Coyotes’ junior goalie Baily Aust finished the game with 20 saves in the loss.
“We worked really hard in practice this week focusing on this game to come out hard,” LaRocque said.
Ralston Valley has had an impressive last three games on the ice in defeating No. 3 Mountain Vista, No. 7 Columbine and No. 2 Monarch.
“We have a veteran group who has played in big games before,” Schoepflin said. “I think that helps us.”
Monarch has had issues figuring out Ralston Valley. The Coyotes finished their 2012-13 campaign with a 19-2-2 record. Both losses came at the hands of the Mustangs, including the loss in the state title game.
After playing five games in 11 days, Ralston Valley has a bit of a break. The defending state champions aren’t back on the ice until facing Summit on Jan. 21, at Apex.
The Mustangs will also get familiar with Edge Ice Arena in Littleton next week. Ralston Valley faces fellow Jeffco programs Dakota Ridge (Jan. 22) and Chatfield (Jan. 25) at The Edge before heading into the final few weeks of the regular season.
Monarch gets back into action right away. The Coyotes face Dakota Ridge at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at The Edge.
Monarch junior Keo Jamieson, left, takes a hit from Ralston Valley junior Kyle Valdez during the first period Tuesday night. (Dennis Pleuss)
Ralston Valley continues to be out front of the CHSAANow.com hockey ranking. (Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)
Regis Jesuit moved up three places in this week’s CHSAANow.com hockey poll.
The Raiders (3-0-0) were No. 7 last week, and are now No. 4.
Ralston Valley remained on top of the rankings, a spot the Mustangs have occupied since the preseason. They beat then-No. 4 Cherry Creek 3-0 on Saturday.
Monarch returned to the No. 2 spot, jumping Mountain Vista. Cherry Creek dropped one spot to No. 5.
CENTENNIAL — No. 1 Ralston Valley beat No. 4 Cherry Creek in hockey on Saturday, 3-0. The Mustangs got goals from Victor Lombardi, Austin Resseguie and Greg Dyba. Zack Larocque made 17 saves in recording a shutout.
