CENTENNIAL | Regis Jesuit coach Dan Woodley was more concerned about how his team played more than the result of Friday night’s clash with Ralston Valley, but he wouldn’t have minded a tie when it was all said and done.
Instead, the Mustangs got a fortunate bounce on a shot by Greg Dyba with just over a minute in overtime and sent Woodley’s Raiders into a tough finishing stretch to the regular season with a 2-1 loss at Family Sports Center.
Connor Brennan scored Regis Jesuit’s lone goal with 39 seconds left in regulation to send the game to overtime — and goaltender Sam Harden made 21 saves, but it wasn’t enough as the Raiders (12-1-2) suffered their first loss in 19 games, stretching back to last season when they also lost in the regular season to Ralston Valley.
The teams met again in the state championship game, with Regis Jesuit prevailing.
Charles Joly scored the first goal for the Mustangs (14-2), which got 24 saves from goaltender Zach Larocque.
Regis Jesuit’s tough stretch continues with a road game against Battle Mountain (6-8-3) in Vail on Saturday, followed by a Foothills Conference road showdown against Monarch (14-1) on Monday.
The game remained a scoreless deadlock after two periods, but Ralston Valley set the tone in the second period with aggressive play.
Victor Lombardi had two point-blank chances to put the Mustangs on the scoreboard in the period, only to see his first shot smothered by Harden and his second one steered wide.
Earlier in the period, Brennan nearly scored shorthanded, but was stuffed by Larocque as he streaked in on a 2-on-1.
A fortunate bounce put Ralston Valley in the lead less than five minutes into the final period when Harden couldn’t secure a shot by Joly, which found a way to pop over the goal line before Harden grabbed it out of the air.
With just two minutes left, the Raiders pulled Harden for an extra attacker and came up with the equalizer. Brennan had the puck come free to him in a crowd in front of the goal and shoveled it past Larocque to tie the score.
Another fortunate bounce went Ralston Valley’s way on the winning goal, as Dyba’s shot bounced off a defenseman’s leg and past a surprised Harden.
Reach Sports Editor Courtney Oakes at sports@aurorasentinel.com or 303-750-7555
RALSTON VALLEY 2, REGIS JESUIT 1 (OT)
Score by periods:
Ralston Valley 0 0 1 1 — 2
Regis Jesuit 0 0 1 0 — 1
SCORING
Third period: Ralston Valley — Charles Joly, 4:46; Regis Jesuit — Connor Brennan (Nathan Haas), 16:21
Overtime: Ralston Valley — Greg Dyba, 3:53
Goaltenders (shots-saves) — Ralston Valley: Zach Larocque (25-24); Regis Jesuit: Sam Harden (23-21).
