A year ago Friday, the Ralston Valley hockey program was conceived.
Saturday, the Mustangs could etch their names into the state record books.
Ralston Valley advanced to the state title game Friday night with a 4-3 overtime victory over vaunted Cheyenne Mountain at the Denver Coliseum.
“Awesome play by my teammate Tanner Stansbury, coming in and feeding it to me,” said sophomore Thomas Greene, who scored the winning goal. “What a great way to score a goal.”
Top-seeded Ralston Valley (17-1-2) will play third-seeded Aspen on Saturday at 5 p.m. The two teams in the newly formed Foothills Conference tied 3-3 during the regular season. It marks the first time since 1981, when Arapahoe beat Cherry Creek in the final, that a Colorado Springs-based school will not play in the final.
“Our seniors decided they were going to take it upon themselves to not let this team feel bad for itself,” Ralston Valley coach John McKibbon said. “We have unbelievable leadership with this group of guys. It’s kind of ironic that a sophomore scored the winning goal.”
Ralston Valley appeared to be in control, clinging to a 3-2 lead midway through the third period. Content to play dump-and-chase hockey, the Mustangs kept the Indians’ speed at bay.
Cheyenne Mountain (15-3-2) tied the game with 5:31 left in regulation on Steven Royce’s second goal of the game.
The Indians peppered Ralston Valley goalie Matt Hardiek in the waning moments, highlighted by a Matt Tritsch wrist shot deflect off the crossbar.
“That was big,” Cheyenne Mountain coach Mike Provenzano said of his team’s misfortune. “We had our chances.”
The turning point of the game came shortly after a missed Cheyenne Mountain opportunity. Up 2-1, Cheyenne’s Alex Lofthus and Matt Lee broke free on a short-handed 2-on-1, but came up empty when Lofthus’ shot went high and wide.
Ralston Valley came right back down the ice and Garrett Aschermann, who netted the overtime game-winner in the quarterfinals against Standley Lake, scored a quirky goal from behind Cheyenne goalie Sam Garcia.
Two minutes later, Ralston struck on the power play again. Mike Greene crashed the net and pounded home a rebound off a Chris Rose shot.
“I told my administrators last year that we had a pretty good chance to be in this spot,” McKibbon said. “Cheyenne played a whale of a game. It’s really too bad somebody had to lose this game.”
Cheyenne Mountain 2 0 1 0 – 3
Ralston Valley 1 2 0 1 – 4
First period – CM: S. Royce (Jervik, Pacheco), 7:57 pp; RV: Rose (unassisted), 6:46; CM: Lofthus (unassisted), 4:47. Penalties – Rose, RV (elbowing), 13:52; R.Bohlim, RV (high-sticking), 12:06; R. Bohlim, RV (hooking), 9:24; Weller, CM (interference), 3:11.
Second period – RV: Aschermann (unassisted), 3:19 pp; M. Greene (Rose), 1:16 pp. Penalties – Jervik, CM (hooking), 11:02; Santy, CM (boarding), 9:23; M. Greene, RV (high-sticking), 8:46; A. Bohlim, RV (hooking), 8:26; St. James, CM (cross-checking), 5:07; S. Royce, CM (interference), 2:05; M. Greene, RV (interference), :41.
Third period – CM: S. Royce (Tritsch), 5:31. Penalties – Hasse, RV (slashing), 9:42; Lee, CM (cross-checking), 9:28; Santy, CM (game-misconduct; checking from behind), 8:43.
Overtime – RV: T. Greene (Stansbury) 5:28. Penalties – None.
Shots on goal – Cheyenne Mountain 5-8-5-1 – 19; Ralston Valley 8-13-9-2 – 32. Saves – Cheyenne Mountain (Robertson) 7-11-9-1 – 28; Ralston Valley (Hardiek) 3-7-5-1 – 16. Power-play opportunities – Cheyenne Mountain 1-for-7; Ralston Valley 2-for-7.
Aspen 6, Air Academy 3
The Skiers spotted the Kadets a goal just 32 seconds into the second semifinal, then promptly turned on the offensive jets to cruise into Saturday’s final, their first since their inaugural season in 2001.
“We’re going to look forward to (Saturday),” senior forward Andy Conarroe said of the championship rematch against Ralston Valley. “We need to come out strong and steal one from our league rivals.”
Aspen (16-3-2), which also fell behind Ralston Valley 2-0 during the regular season, wasted little time answering the Brandon Williams’ goal. Rob Cronenberg lifted a backhanded shot over the left shoulder of Air Academy goalie Charlie Ruzkowski just 50 seconds later, and the floodgates opened.
Conarroe scored Aspen’s next two first-period goals, the second giving the Skiers a lead they never relinquished.
“We came out and everybody was just a little star-struck at the size of the place, and the magnitude of the game,” Conarroe said. “Once they got that first goal, we calmed down and we just played our game.”
Willy Klein added another goal late in the first period for Aspen, forcing Ruzkowski out of the game.
“Charlie had been on such a roll, that you go with the one that’s hot,” Kadets coach Dave Ruzkowsk said of his goalie switch to senior Tyler Lopez. “That was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.”
The short-handed Kadets, who had two players opt to play a club game and then lost forward Tyler Mather to injury, were on their heels. With just eight forwards, and being forced to double-shift with skaters on the ice for more than two minutes at a time, the Kadets had no offensive push. The 1-2 offensive punch of Williams and Taylor Henricks each scored a goal but were forced into defensive duty.
Aspen 4 0 2 – 6
Air Academy 2 0 1 – 3
First period – AA: Williams (Poynter), 14:28; A: Cronenberg (unassisted), 13:38; Conarroe (Frias, Cooper); AA: Mather (unassisted), 8:13; A: Conarroe (Cooper, Dolginow) 6:59 pp; Klein (Means, Cronenberg), 1:51. Penalties – Wittenberg, AA (tripping), 12:17; Henricks, AA (tripping), 7:55; Dolginow, A (tripping), 4:57; Gallagher, AA (slashing); Wittenberg, AA (tripping), :27.
Second period – None. Penalties – Jones, AA (holding), 1:03.
Third period – A: Mines (Fyrwald), 9:07; Moore (Anastas, Butler), 7:41; AA: Henricks (Gallagher), :27. Penalties – Henricks, AA (roughing), 13:54.
Shots on goal – Aspen 15-10-10 – 35; Air Academy 6-5-6 – 17. Saves – Aspen (Hornberg) 4-5-5 – 14; Air Academy (Ruzkowski) 11-0-0 – 11; (Lopez) 0-10-8 – 18. Power-play opportunities – Aspen 1-for-5; Air Academy 0-for-1.
Jon E. Yunt can be reached at 303-954-1354 or jyunt@denverpost.com.
