DENVER | Kale Lone knows Regis Jesuit hockey coach Dan Woodley puts him on the ice to provide hard work and energy when the team needs it most.

Sometimes it leads to goals, sometimes it doesn’t.

In a key situation in Thursday’s state ice hockey semifinal at Pepsi Center, Lone’s energy and grit led to a goal that gave the top-seeded Raiders the push they needed on their way to a 7-1 victory over No. 13 Chaparral that sent them into the March 6 state final against third-seeded Valor Christian, a 4-0 winner over No. 2 Monarch.

Lone scored an unassisted goal late in the first period, just 20 seconds after the Wolverines had tied the score and started feeling good about themselves in their first appearance in the semifinals, and the Raiders (22-0) were off and running on their way to making the state championship game for the third straight season and seventh time in program history.

“Woodley puts me out there to shift the momentum back in our favor and fortunately I was able to do it today,” Lone said. “It definitely slowed them down and took away some of their drive. They didn’t come out as hard in other periods as they did at the beginning of the first.”

Lone went on to assist on goals by Connor Kilkenny and Justin Lico in the first 43 seconds of the second period in what turned out to be another well-rounded offensive effort for Regis Jesuit. Kilkenny scored twice, while Shane Ott, Colin Walsh, Lico, Lone and Sergio Padilla all had goals for the Raiders, who also had six players with at least one assist and got 11 saves from senior goaltender Max Harlan.

Regis Jesuit will now face a Valor Christian team that will play for the championship for the first time. The Eagles (20-2) — who the Raiders beat 2-1 prior to winter break — kept Monarch out of the final for the first time since 2012.

In the semifinal, Woodley was glad for the jolt Lone gave to his team, which was in the midst of a slow and frustrating opening period of play.

Following the face-off after Dorian Perrett had put Chaparral on the scoreboard at the 13:30 mark, Lone hung back as his linemates held the puck in the zone near the blue line. The puck got dumped down the boards to him and he went in, spun and backhanded a shot into the net.

“It was a great goal by Kale Lone and a great play by an individual who felt the need to contribute,” Woodley said. “We have a lot of guys who like to contribute and care for their teammates.

“To have a guy have an opportunity to step up and have that big contribution right after their goal was huge.”

The score helped lift the mood for sure, though Woodley still saw plenty of “sour faces” in the lockerroom at the first intermission.

An animated discussion during the break lit a fire under Regis Jesuit, which scored four times in the second period, including the early flurry from Kilkenny and Lico that took all the wind out of Chaparral’s sails.

“I thought we came out a little slow, being a little nervous with the bright lights above us,” said Walsh, who poked in a loose puck after Nicholas Schultz came flying in from the wing to put a shot on goal for the Raiders’ third score of the period.

“Once we got a period under us, we came out in the second with our feet moving and ready to go,” he added.

Ott — coming off two massive offensive outputs in the previous two playoff games — registered his only point with an unassisted goal midway through the period for a 6-1 lead.

Walsh had a couple of beautifully executed plays that got him free for 1-on-1 chances with Chaparral’s goalie in the third period, but he was unable to finish against netminder Joseph Holguin.

Padilla did when he and Drew Renner got in on a 2-on-1 break and Renner slid the puck under the stick of a Wolverines’ defenseman to Padilla, who tipped it between Holguin’s pads for the final goal.

Woodley wasn’t super excited for the five-day break in between the semifinal and championship game, but said he had a good schedule set up for practice to prepare his team.

At the time, Lone didn’t know which team would be the opposition in the final as they played after the Raiders, but said he didn’t have a preference to face Valor Christian or Monarch, which they’d split with in state championship games the past two seasons.

“Valor and Monarch are both really good teams and both will put up a really tough game,” Lone said. “It all depends on how we play that day.”

Courtney Oakes is Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. FB: Sentinel Prep Sports

(1) REGIS JESUIT 7, (13) CHAPARRAL 1

Score by periods:

Chaparral      1  0  0 — 1

Regis Jesuit  2  4  1 — 7

SCORING

First period: Regis Jesuit — Connor Kilkenny (Justin Lico) (power play), 6:51; Chaparral — Dorian Perret (Logan Kramer, Adam Leffler) (power play), 13:30; Regis Jesuit — Kale Lone, 13:50

Second period: Regis Jesuit — Kilkenny (Nolan Sargent, Lone), 0:16; Regis Jesuit — Lico (Lone), 0:43; Regis Jesuit — Colin Walsh (Nicholas Schultz, Will Desmond), 3:05; Regis Jesuit — Shane Ott, 8:30

Third period: Regis Jesuit — Sergio Padilla (Drew Renner), 14:15

Goaltenders: Chaparral — CJ Mayfield & Joseph Holguin (30 shots on goal-23 saves); Regis Jesuit — Max Harlan (12 shots on goal-11 saves)