Colorado Springs – Cheyenne Mountain High School coach Mike Provenzano will tell you his team was just a little flat Friday night. In reality, the Indians were pushed to the edge by 13th-seeded Summit.
The upset-minded Tigers gave the 14-time state champions all they could handle for 2 1/2 periods before losing 4-1 at the World Arena.
The Indians (21-0-1) will skate for their 15th state title Saturday night against Peak to Peak with the chance to become the first Colorado team to finish the season without a loss.
“I’ll give them credit, but we were nowhere near our normal selves,” said Provenzano, who is in search of his fifth title as a head coach.
Cheyenne Mountain took a 1-0 lead into the third period and was killing a penalty when it got a little breathing room. A turnover in neutral ice fell right on the stick of Alex Lofthus, the state’s leading scorer.
Lofthus got defender Jackie Koetteritz on her heels and was able to score short-handed past Tigers goalie Nick Springer.
“(Jackie) is a great hockey player and we had some trouble with her,” said Lofthus, who scored 31 goals this season. “It was big to get that one, especially on their power play, because they had some good chances earlier.
“To get a short-handed goal, momentum just shifted right there.”
Lofthus’ goal opened the flood gates. With over a minute still left on its power play, Summit (9-14) finally solved Indians goalie Sam Garcia. Jeff Montepare beat Garcia, who combined with fellow Cheyenne Mountain goalie Nick Robertson had given up only 17 goals all season.
It was short-lived momentum for the Tigers, who suffered another defense lapse in the neutral zone and watched Dylan Johnson score uncontested to put Cheyenne Mountain up 3-1.
Summit 0 0 1 – 1
Cheyenne Mountain 1 0 3 – 4
First period – CM: Collin Royce (Matt Lee, Steven Royce), 12:08. Penalty – John Gerrard-Gough, CM (interference), 1:12.
Second period – None. Penalties – Matt Lee, CM (elbowing), 6:33; Mike Hammer, S (elbowing), 14:43.
Third period – CM: Alex Lofthus (Collin Royce), 4:24 sh; S: Jeff Montepare (Billy Barto), 4:53 pp; CM: Dylan Johnson (unassisted), 6:29; CM: John Gerrard-Gough (Justin Spray), 13:24. Penalty – Tyler Knafelc, CM (tripping), 4:11.
Shots on goal – Summit 8-9-7 – 24; Cheyenne Mountain 7-5-6 – 18. Saves – Summit (Nick Springer) 6-5-3 – 14; Cheyenne Mountain (Sam Garcia) 8-9-6 – 23. Power-play opportunities – Summit 1-for-3; Cheyenne Mountain 0-for-1.
PEAK TO PEAK 4, BATTLE MOUNTAIN 1
Greg Borchers is no stranger to the rigors of the playoffs.
The Peak to Peak sophomore played the final 10 minutes of the Pumas’ Class 3A championship soccer game, making a couple of saves to preserve the win. On Friday night, Borchers made 24 saves to propel the seventh-seeded Pumas into Saturday’s championship game.
“I know we got one more to go, but I’m on top of the world right now,” Borchers said. “I have a team in front of me that is amazing, and my defense played exceptionally well.”
Peak to Peak (16-6) finished fourth in the Mountain Conference and dropped both meetings with the Indians by a combined score of 16-2.
The vaunted Peak to Peak penalty-killing unit that had produced 21 short-handed goals coming into the semifinals opened the scoring a man down. Josh Wrede scored his 27th goal of the season midway through the first to put Peak to Peak up 1-0.
Peak to Peak 2 2 0 – 4
Battle Mountain 0 1 0 – 1
First period – PtP: Josh Wrede (Justin Slavin, Alex Jurhs), 8:21 sh; PtP: Dan Banta (unassisted), 9:21. Penalty – Dan Banta, PtP (high-sticking) 7:13.
Second period – PtP: Josh Wrede (Ryan Meyer, Chester Wang), 5:23 pp; PtP: Alex Jurhs (Ryan Meyer), 11:27 sh; BM: Casey Kleisinger (Coulter Somes, Derek Byron), 14:07. Penalties – Ryan Meyer, PtP (high-sticking), 2:14; Jonny Stevens, BM (interference); Chris Erickson, PtP (check-from-behind; game misconduct), 5:30; Ryan Meyer, PtP (roughing), 6:40; Kyle Woods, BM (hooking), 8:01; Jonny Stevens, BM (high-sticking); Justin Slavin, PtP (interference); Matt Heelan, BM (high-sticking) 11:27.
Third period – None. Penalties – John Ryan Melzer, BM (too many men), 2:50; Patrick LaFonte, PtP (interference), 6:12; Matt Heelan, BM (hooking), 8:53.
Shots on goal – Peak to Peak 6-10-5 – 21; Battle Mountain 10-9-6 – 25. Saves – Peak to Peak (Greg Borchers) 10-8-9 – 27; Battle Mountain (Foster Fox) 4-8-5 – 17. Power-play opportunities – Peak to Peak 1-for-6; Battle Mountain 0-for-6.
