COLORADO SPRINGS | The Cherry Creek co-op ice hockey team lost in the Class 5A Frozen Four for the second straight season and did so in heartbreaking fashion.
The fourth-seeded Bruins got goals from senior Cooper Huang and juniors Davis Ritter and Brian Kopeck in the first two periods to take a 3-1 lead over No. 1 Poudre School District in their semifinal at Ed Robson Arena on the campus of Colorado College, but saw the lead disappear in the third period and lost 4-3 in double overtime.
Coach Jeff Mielnicki’s Cherry Creek team was kept off the scoreboard in the third period and first overtime, while Poudre School District scored on a power play early in the third period and tied it up inside two minutes left before getting the golden goal at the 7:34 mark of the second overtime period.
“That looked looked and felt like a championship game and both teams played like it,” Mielnicki said. “We had our chances and the kids did everything we asked. We checked every box and it took a great play to beat us.”
Poudre School District advanced to the March 3 5A state championship game to play No. 3 Valor Christian, which defeated No. 2 Monarch in the other semifinal.
Senior Hudson Ipson and Logan Samador, juniors Shota Badasyan, Matthew Lopez and Carter Sharkey (Cherokee Trail) and sophomore Ari Gelfand picked up assists and senior goaltender Payton Mills (Overland) saved 34 of 38 shots on goal for Cherry Creek, which finished with a 12-7-2 record.
The Bruins aren’t done completely, however, as they’ve qualified for the USA Hockey High School National Championships March 26-30 in Irvine, California.
They very nearly had a chance to play for the state championship before that, as they held leads of 1-0 (on a Huang goal in the opening period), 2-0 (late in the second period on Ritter’s score) and 3-1 (after Kopeck tallied with one second left in the period to counter Poudre School District’s first goal).
But a power play chance for the Stars in the opening minute of the third period ended up in the back of the net, as did the desperation tying goal with 1:50 left in regulation. A Cherry Creek player hit a crossbar inside the final minute going for the go-ahead goal.
Poudre School District got the winner at the 7:34 mark of the second overtime as London Salmela redirected a shot from Hayden Williamson over the shoulder of Mills to end the game.
“Those sudden deaths are brutal, you’re on top of the mountain or you feel like you just fell off a cliff,” Mielnicki said. “With that said, we spoke with the kids afterwards, but there wasn’t much say, we all knew it. We knew how hard they played and Poudre is a great team.
“The bottom line is we lost to the No. 1 seed in a double-overtime game, so we’re not going to look back and say we did didn’t do this or do that. They got the shot that went in and we didn’t.”
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
Semifinals at Ed Robson Arena, March 1
(1) POUDRE SCHOOL DISTRICT 4, (4) CHERRY CREEK 3 (2OT)
Score by periods:
Cherry Creek 1 2 0 0 0 — 3
Poudre School District 0 1 2 0 1 — 4
SCORING
First period: Cherry Creek — Cooper Huang (Ari Gelfand, Logan Samador), 8:48
Second period: Cherry Creek — Davis Ritter (Hudson Ipson, Matthew Lopez), 3:12; Poudre School District — Daniel Campbell (Jackson Siegel, Zach Bucholt), 0:43; Cherry Creek — Brian Kopeck (Shota Badasyan, Carter Sharkey), 0:01
Third period: Poudre School District — Hayden Williamson (Adam Aldridge, Campbell) (power play), 15:44; Poudre School District — Jorgan Bliss (London Salmela), 1:50
Second overtime: Poudre School District — Salmela (Williamson), 7:34
Goalie saves — Cherry Creek (Payton Mills, 38 shots on goal-34 saves); Poudre School District (Kody Cadwell, 33 shots on goal-30 saves)
