DENVER | Cherry Creek’s fantastic turnaround season ended at the Denver Coliseum, just a day earlier than it hoped.
The Bruins briefly led undefeated powerhouse Ralston Valley in a state ice hockey semifinal on Friday evening on the home ice of the Denver Cutthroats, but the Mustangs scored three goals in the first and third periods on their way to 6-2 victory and a return to the state championship game.
Ralston Valley plays for its second consecutive state title in a rematch with Monarch — which rallied past Regis Jesuit 2-1 in the other semifinal — at 3:30 p.m. Saturday on the same ice.
Senior Matt Jung (Eaglecrest) scored both goals for Cherry Creek, which appeared in the semifinals for the first time since 1981 when it advanced to the state championship game before losing to Arapahoe. The program went dormant in the district a few years later and stayed that way for 24 seasons.
Coach Jeff Mielnicki’s Bruins finished the season 17-4-1, a far cry from the 2-16-1 mark of last season, Cherry Creek’s first back on the ice.
In the first period, Cherry Creek did something it hadn’t done in the first meeting between the teams on Jan. 4, a 3-0 loss — score a goal — as Jung tallied just 4:26 into the contest on an assist from Michael Dubus.
It was all Mustangs the rest of the period, however, starting with Kyle Valdez’s power play goal with less than six minutes left until intermission. Victor Lombardi tallied just 29 seconds later and Greg Dyba put a capper on the period when he streaked in on Bruins’ goaltender Aaron Jatana and flipped the puck into the net for a 3-1 advantage.
Ralston Valley’s shot advantage increased to 33-9 after two periods, despite the fact that the Mustangs spent nearly the entire period on the penalty kill. Cherry Creek failed on five man advantage chances in the period and Mielnicki called his lone time out in an effort to jump start his team.
The Mustangs remained relentless, however, tacking on three more goals in the third period to take a commanding 6-1 advantage on Garrett Schaff’s even strength score.
Jung scored an unassisted goal two minutes later for Cherry Creek.
Jatana was under siege all night in the nets saw Ralston Valley put 48 shots on him, of which he saved 42.
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
FROZEN FOUR ICE HOCKEY
RALSTON VALLEY 6, CHERRY CREEK 2
Score by periods:
Cherry Creek 1 0 1 — 2
Ralston Valley 3 0 3 — 6
SCORING
First period — Cherry Creek: Matt Jung (Michael Dubus), 4:26; Ralston Valley: Kyle Valdez (power play) (Nick Wiemelt, Tyler Morpurgo), 11:52; Ralston Valley: Victor Lombardi (Greg Dyba, Austin Resseguie), 12:21; Ralston Valley: Dyba (Lombardi), 15:36
Third period — Ralston Valley: Resseguie (Alec Lemmon), 3:05; Ralston Valley: Tyler Morpurgo (power play) (Valdez, Lemmon), 5:31; Ralston Valley: Garrett Schaff (Morpurgo), 11:56; Cherry Creek: Jung (unassisted)
Goaltenders — Cherry Creek: Aaron Jatana (48 shots against-42 saves); Ralston Valley: Zack Laroque (17 shots against-15 saves)
