AURORA | The Regis Jesuit ice hockey team’s quest to win a Class 5A state championship was a game longer than usual as it had to play in the opening round of the playoffs this time, but it made it through that part of the journey successfully.
Coach Terry Ott’s defending 5A state champions received the No. 5 seed in the 12-team postseason — one spot out of getting a bye that goes to the top four seeds — which meant an opening round contest Friday night at Family Sports Center.
Senior forward Avery Osgood scored a tie-breaking goal on the power play and had an insurance score in the third period as Regis Jesuit defeated 12th-seeded Lewis-Palmer 3-1. Senior Harry Sorensen also had a goal and sophomore goalie Easton Sparks saved 13 of the 14 shots he faced for the Raiders (11-7-1).
“It’s nice to get a team that’s desperate to play against you and their goaltender played fantastic,” Ott said, nothing the play of the Rangers’ Chase Vaughn. “Understanding what it is going to take in the playoffs to beat good goaltending, to not come out of our structure and play a good, structured defensive game. It’s a great start.”
The victory set up a clash with rival and fourth-seeded Cherry Creek (11-6-2) at 5:10 p.m. Feb. 25 at South Suburban Ice Arena in the state quarterfinals. The teams played to a 2-2 overtime tie in their first meeting, while Regis Jesuit prevailed 5-3 in the rematch Jan. 24.
Against Lewis-Palmer (11-9), the ice was tilted all night as the Raiders held a sizable advantage in shots on goal (57 to 14 for the Rangers).
Still, Vaughn held strong in the net for Lewis-Palmer and the game sat deadlocked at 1-1 after one period. Sorensen put Regis Jesuit on the scoreboard first when he deflected a shot from out high by sophomore Sam Wessel into the net, while Tyler Tucker countered for the Rangers when he took a lead pass and beat Sparks with a outstanding high shot.
Tucker picked up a roughing call late in the second period, however, which put the Raiders on the power play. That resulted in the tie-breaking goal when senior Nolan Williams put a cross ice pass to senior Parker Brinner who found Osgood in front of an open net for the score.
“We were in their offensive zone for the majority of the game, but their goalie played a very good game, so props to him,” Osgood said. “It took me a while to get one, but I’m glad I was able to finish one home and get us a lead going into the third period.”
Early in the third period, Sorensen found Osgood with pass that he held a split second as Vaughn moved out of position and scored. It was Osgood’s third two-goal game of the season and gave him nine for the season, second-most behind Williams’ 15.
Regis Jesuit can now look forward to a rematch with a Cherry Creek team that dropped its regular season finale to top-seeded Poudre School District and has an 11-day gap between contests due to the first-round bye.
“It’s going to be back and forth with them,” Osgood said. “It’s going to be a physical game and we’re going to need to bring it even harder than we did today.”
With a victory over the Bruins, Regis Jesuit can reach at least the semifinals of the state tournament for the 17th time in the past 18 seasons.
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
1st round, Feb. 21 at Family Sports Center
(5) REGIS JESUIT 3, (12) LEWIS-PALMER 1
Score by periods:
Lewis-Palmer 1 0 0 — 1
Regis Jesuit 1 1 1 — 3
SCORING
First period: Regis Jesuit — Harry Sorensen (Sam Wessel), 11:45; Lewis-Palmer — Tyler Tucker (Cole Aggers), 7:51
Second period: Regis Jesuit — Avery Osgood (Parker Brinner, Nolan Williams)(power play), 3:19
Third period: Regis Jesuit — Osgood (Vincent Cieslak, Sorensen), 15:42
Goalie saves: Lewis-Palmer — Chase Vaughn (57 shots on goal-54 saves), Regis Jesuit — Easton Sparks (14 shots on goal-13 saves)
