Last season, the Cherry Creek co-op ice hockey team totaled two wins for the entire season.
The Bruins — a collection of players from six district schools — have two wins alone in the playoffs a year later, on top of 15 in the regular season.
Cherry Creek rallied twice from one-goal deficits and scored three times in the decisive third period in a 5-3 victory over Lewis-Palmer on Feb. 22 at Colorado Sport Center, pushing coach Jeff Mielnicki’s team into the Feb. 28 Frozen Four. The Bruins play Ralston Valley at 6 p.m. Feb. 28 at the Denver Coliseum, followed by an 8 p.m. contest between Regis Jesuit — a semifinalist for the seventh straight season — and Monarch.
It’s with great pride and anticipation Cherry Creek (17-3-1) will take the ice this deep in the postseason, especially after how last season played out.
“It’s just great; we believed in ourselves, but we wanted the belief of other people,” said junior forward Ryan Worley, an Eaglecrest student whose been on the Cherry Creek team both seasons.
“Other teams thought we were a joke last year, but we proved last week that we’re made of something. …It’s been a long week and it’s been really hard to focus on anything else. We’re pumped to get out there.”
To get to the semifinals — where they’ll get a rematch against a Ralston Valley team that won 3-0 when the teams played on Jan. 4 — the Bruins skated past Lewis-Palmer 5-3 in the second round on Feb. 22 at the Colorado Sport Center in Monument.
Worley (Eaglecrest) tallied two goals, including what turned out to be the game-winner early in the final period, and Mark Saxelby (Grandview), Michael Dubus and Nick McWharter also had goals for Cherry Creek.
Cody Oakes (Cherokee Trail) dished out two assists to lead the Bruins, while goaltender Quinton Reynolds (Overland) saved 21 of the 24 shots he faced.
Cherry Creek blanked Pine Creek 6-0 Feb. 21 to move into the second round.
Mielnicki has enjoyed watching his group launch a huge turnaround for the program after a disappointing previous season. It’ll be bittersweet for him to watch his group skate for the last time or two, regardless of outcome. “I think there’s a lot of excitement now for Cherry Creek,” he said. “The people who come to watch us see a hard-working team, a team that believes in itself and it’s just a great group of kids. …They’ve just really proven to themselves that they can play at a very high level.”
Regis Jesuit is younger than usual, but coach Dan Woodley’s group again managed to navigate the first two rounds of the playoffs to put themselves into the semifinals, where it faces a Monarch team that eliminated it in the same round last season.
The Raiders overcame a 1-0 deficit 8 seconds into their opener Feb. 21 in an 8-2 win over Doherty, then avenged a regular season loss to powerhouse Mountain Vista with a 3-1 second round victory Feb. 22.
Jack Oneil scored three goals in the two playoff games for Regis Jesuit, one a game-winner.
The Raiders played Monarch just two weeks ago in the regular season finale, with Connor Brennan scoring with just 1:43 remaining in regulation to lift his team into a 2-2 tie.
Courtney Oakes is Sports Editor of the Aurora Sentinel. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. Facebook: Aurora Prep Sentinel
2014 STATE ICE HOCKEY FROZEN FOUR
Semifinals, Feb. 28 at Denver Coliseum
CHERRY CREEK (17-3-1) vs. Ralston Valley (21-0), 6 p.m.
REGIS JESUIT (17-3-1) vs. Monarch (18-1), 8 p.m.
Championship, March 1 at Denver Coliseum
Semifinals winners, 3:30 p.m.
