HIGHLANDS RANCH | Despite an 11-day layoff since its last game, only rough ice in the opening period slowed the Cherry Creek co-op ice hockey team Tuesday night.
The fourth-seeded Bruins played their regular season finale Feb. 14 and a first-round bye put them through to a Class 5A state quarterfinal matchup at South Suburban Sports Complex against rival and fifth-seeded Regis Jesuit, which had one postseason game under its belt on its quest to repeat as state champion.
After a scoreless opening period played on rough ice due to open skating beforehand, coach Jeff Mielnicki’s Cherry Creek team scored five times in the final two periods to top Regis Jesuit 5-1 in the first postseason meeting between the two local powerhouse programs.
Junior Carter Sharkey (Cherokee Trail) scored on an empty-netter late for his second goal, while senior Jack Linville, junior Shota Badasyan and sophomore Ari Gelfand also had goals for the 12-6-2 Bruins, who earned a spot opposite top-seeded Poudre School District — an 8-2 winner over No. 8 Mountain Vista — in a 4 p.m. March 1 semifinal at Ed Hobson Arena in Colorado Springs.
“Both teams had to fight the ice conditions in the first period, but then the game really picked up in the second,” said Mielnicki, whose team earned its first win over Regis Jesuit since the 2022-23 season. “We really had not played for awhile, but we had formulated our practices for game-like situations, so the kids were ready for it.”
Updated 2025 Class 5A state ice hockey playoff scoreboard & schedule, here
Regis Jesuit opened the postseason with a 3-1 win over No. 12 Lewis-Palmer (story, here), but was stopped short of what would have been a 17th appearance in the Frozen Four in 18 seasons. Coach Terry Ott’s Raiders got a 5-on-3 goal late from senior Parker Brinner to avoid the shutout and finished the season 11-8-1.
Senior goalie Payton Mills (Overland) stopped 19 of the 20 shots he faced in the net for Cherry Creek, including a big one on a wide open chance by Regis Jesuit senior Harry Sorensen just over a minute into the contest that provided a lift.
“Mills did a nice job giving our team confidence early,” Mielnicki said. “Our core D played one of its best games of the season and our faceoff win percentage was the highest of the season, so that goes us important possession in both zones.
Indeed, Mills did not allow a goal until the Raiders had a 5-on-3 advantage late in the third period with a four-goal lead in place.
“We just had to stick to our systems our coaches give us and just go from there,” Sharkey said. “We had to play well and trust each other.”
Regis Jesuit sophomore goalie Easton Sparks — a pivotal part of last season’s state championship run for the Raiders — made a big save himself midway through the opening period on a point blank shot by junior Matthew Lopez.
But Cherry Creek finally broke through early in the second period on an even strength goal by Badasyan, who got an open feed from Lopez and buried it.
Four minutes later, Linville parked himself in front of Sparks and deflected a long shot by Sharkey to make it 2-0. Lopez fed Sharkey with a cross ice pass for a power play score with just 1:35 left in the period.
A few minutes into the third period, Gelfand skated in from the right and found a small opening to score to make it 4-0. With 2:23 left, Brinner ripped a deep shot into the net on a two-man advantage to cut into the lead and was followed by a time out by Regis Jesuit.
Sharkey added an empty netter with less than 30 seconds left to seal it.
In the last 18 seasons, Regis Jesuit’s only other season in which it did not advance to at least the semifinals came in 2022, when it also lost in the quarterfinals. The Raiders will return next season hoping to add to their seven all-time state championships, which ranks second all-time in Colorado history.
On the other side, the Cherry Creek program is in the Frozen Four for the second straight season and fifth time in the past 12 seasons. To earn a shot to win its fifth all-time title, the Bruins will have to get past a Poudre School District team that lost its season opener, but has won its last 17 games and defeated Cherry Creek 3-1 on Feb. 15. The teams also played to a 4-4 tie on Jan. 3.
“The number one thing for us will be trying to slow them down in the neutral zone,” Mielnicki said. “When they get good rush, they put a lot of pucks on the net and score a lot of goals. We need to win draws in the offensive zone and get pucks on the net. In playoff hockey, it’s not always the cleanest goals that go in, it’s usually from hard work.”
Sharkey is looking forward to the experience of playing in a college arena with his team.
“Hopefully we’ll have a big, loud crowd and hanging out with the fellas,” Sharkey said.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
2025 CLASS 5A STATE ICE HOCKEY PLAYOFFS
Quarterfinal, Feb. 25 at South Suburban Sports Complex
(4) CHERRY CREEK 5, (5) REGIS JESUIT 1
Score by periods:
Regis Jesuit 0 0 1 — 1
Cherry Creek 0 3 2 — 5
SCORING
Second period: Cherry Creek — Shota Badasyan (Davis Ritter, Matthew Lopez), 13:43; Cherry Creek — Jack Linville (Harry Frangiskakis, Carter Sharkey), 9:39; Cherry Creek — Sharkey (Lopez) (power play), 1:35
Third period: Cherry Creek — Ari Gelfand (Austin Katz, Linville), 10:39; Regis Jesuit — Parker Brinner (Vincent Cieslak, Avery Osgood) (power play), 2:23; Cherry Creek — Sharkey (empty net), 0:27
Goalie saves: Regis Jesuit — Easton Sparks (29 shots on goal-25 saves); Cherry Creek — Payton Mills (20 shots on goal-19 saves)
