With only a few weeks left in the regular season, Colorado’s ice hockey powerhouses are beginning to go toe-to-toe, with the win-loss records starting to show the effects.
Two-time defending state champion Ralston Valley suffered a loss to Mountain Vista that snapped their 38-game Colorado winning streak and the Mustangs subsequently turned around and knocked another team — Cherry Creek — from the unbeaten ranks Jan. 27.
The Bruins’ 4-1 loss at Arvada’s APEX Rec Center leaves Regis Jesuit as the lone undefeated team in Colorado, with the Raiders set to enter their most difficult portion of the schedule as well.
“We’re really looking forward to the next couple of weeks, the crowds are getting bigger and the excitement is getting stronger,” Cherry Creek coach Jeff Mielnicki said. “It looks like several of the top teams have a schedule that’s back-weighted like ours is, so it gives you a chance to see how you match up and points out those things you need to improve on.”
Cherry Creek (10-1 overall, 7-1 in the Foothills Conference) must put the defeat behind it quickly, given an upcoming back-to-back against improved Columbine and Mountain Vista on Jan. 30-31.
The Bruins — whose last loss came to Ralston Valley in last season’s state semifinals — learned a lot in the defeat, which came on the heels of a strong 5-3 victory over a stout Resurrection Christian team a few days earlier.
Senior co-captain Tim Keohane (Smoky Hill) felt like the Bruins will eventually benefit from the experience, though the defeat stung in the short term.
“It’s tough with this one, we were on such a high coming in, but they knocked us down to our boots,” Keohane said. “Now, we have to come back from it. … I feel like we’re definitely better in that we know what we need to work on when we play them again. I expect to play them again.”
Mielnicki got a chance to see how the multiple young players in his lineup responded to the adversity of playing on the road against a high quality team stinging a bit from a rare loss.
The Mustangs staved off Cherry Creek’s early flurry of pressure and took the lead in the first period, with the Bruins’ James Shelton tied it up with a rebound goal early in the second.
Ralston Valley goalie Dominic Gomez helped turn away another Cherry Creek surge seeking the go-ahead goal, while the Mustangs tallied twice in a three-minute span on the other end to take control.
“We have a lot of young players and this is one of the times when they played like young players,” Mielnicki said. “It was some small things, but you can only teach it. They have to experience it. I think we learned a lot about what we need to do to compete against the Ralstons. We did it against Resurrection, but every game is new. The road won’t be any easier.”
Indeed, the Bruins play eight more games, including six against teams with double-digit wins.
Cherry Creek plays Regis Jesuit on Feb. 20 in what should be another monumental Foothills Conference battle.
The Raiders could still be undefeated at that point, but coach Dan Woodley’s team has a pretty significant gauntlet of its own in the final three weeks of the season, beginning with a Jan. 30 contest against the Monarch team that knocked them out of last season’s Frozen Four.
Regis Jesuit coasted past Summit 6-0 on Jan. 23 and upstart Denver East 8-1 on Jan. 24 to remain unbeaten, with senior Connor Brennan racking up four goals between the two contests.
Jack Kilkenny scored twice as the Raiders overcame one of their biggest hurdles in Monarch — which beat them in last season’s semifinals — with a 4-1 road victory on Jan. 30, followed by a 7-1 win over Chatfield on Jan. 31.
The final three games of the season should have the Raiders as ready for the postseason as possible, starting with a Feb. 13 contest against Ralston Valley. That precedes the game against Cherry Creek, which comes a day before a showdown with Mountain Vista on Feb. 21.
The ice hockey regular season is extended a week longer than in previous years, with the playoffs set to open Feb. 27. The state semifinals are scheduled for March 5 at Loveland’s Budweiser Events Center, the same site as the March 7 state championship game.
Courtney Oakes is Sports Editor of the Aurora Sentinel. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. FB: Aurora Prep Sentinel
BIG ICE HOCKEY GAMES DOWN THE STRETCH
A look at some of the biggest ice hockey games involving Cherry Creek and Regis Jesuit in the final weeks of the season. Records as of Feb. 2:
Feb. 6: Lewis-Palmer (8-7) vs. Regis Jesuit (14-0) at Family Sports Center, 5:45 p.m.
Feb. 7: Dakota Ridge (12-1) vs. Cherry Creek (11-2) at Family Sports Center, 1:30 p.m.
Feb. 9: Cherry Creek (11-2) vs. Air Academy (11-1) at Sertich Ice Arena, 5:15 p.m.
Feb. 13: Ralston Valley vs. Regis Jesuit (14-0) at Family Sports Center, 5:45 p.m.
Feb. 13: Cherry Creek (11-2) vs. Monarch (9-2-1) at Boulder Valley Ice, 7:30 p.m.
Feb. 20: Cherry Creek (11-2) vs. Regis Jesuit (14-0) at Family Sports Center, 5:45 p.m.
Feb. 21: Regis Jesuit (14-0) vs. Mountain Vista (12-1-1) at South Suburban (Delio), 7 p.m.
