ARVADA — Whitney Houston had barely finished “The Star-Spangled Banner” when Ralston Valley put its stamp on Saturday’s pivotal Foothills League hockey game.
The Mustangs scored just 11 seconds into the game at the Apex Ice Arena, and behind a relentless all-around effort stayed unbeaten with a 5-2 victory over the Summit Tigers.
“It takes the pressure off right away and sets the tempo, just a good way to start a game,” Ralston Valley defenseman Connor Knutson said. “It’s what you look for all the time.”
Ralston Valley improved to 3-0 in the league and 10-0-1 overall. The Mustangs and Regis are the only undefeated teams.
It wasn’t long after Garrett Aschermann netted the first goal that Ralston tacked on another. With the Summit defense swarming to the puck behind freshman Andrew Dunlap’s net, it left Justin Hoffman wide open between the circles to bang one home against a late-reacting Dunlap.
“It was good to get started out that way, no doubt about it,” said Mustangs coach John Mc-Kibbon, who guided Ralston to the title game last season in its first year. “It makes you feel better about the situation, because you know they are going to come hard, and now they’ve dug themselves a hole right out of the chute.”
Said Summit coach Bryan Smith: “I think this is more of an awareness game for us. I don’t think that that team is any better than us, I think that we can stack up. That was just a real flat game for us, not the real Summit Tigers.”
It was 4-0 before the Tigers (7-3, 2-2) and Braxton Campbell finally figured out Ralston Valley goalie Sebastian “Seabass” Trujillo.
Trujillo, senior Matt Hardiek and junior Adam Lucas, behind a stout Mustangs defense, have allowed just 14 goals this season.
“We give the offense opportunities, but in return they are back-checking and they are just as much of the defense as we are,” Knutson said. “Seabass is awesome, he’s scrappy. We’ve got three good goalies, and he’s definitely one of the best.”
Summit 0 1 1 — 2
Ralston Valley 2 3 0 — 5
First period — RV: Aschermann (Stansbury), :11; Hoffman (Stansbury, Allen), 4:12. Penalties — Dudick, S (slashing), 5:12; Stansbury, RV (too many men), 7:11; M. O’Neill, S (unsportsmanlike conduct), 9:08.
Second period — RV: Graf (Sudmalis), 2:28; Stansbury (Smith, Allen), 4:38 pp; S: Campbell (Gutierrez), 12:14; RV: Allen (Smith), 12:41. Penalties — M. O’Neill, S (slashing), 3:30; Aschermann, RV (interference), 6:36.
Third period — S: M. O’Neill (unassisted), 3:25. Penalties — Dudick, S (elbowing), 1:01; Aschermann, RV (boarding), 1:18; Summit (bench minor), 3:48; Campbell, S (tripping), 4:34; Montepare, S (holding and game misconduct), 6:46; Greene, RV (roughing), 6:46; M. O’Neill, S (tripping), 7:19; Knutson, RV (holding), 9:39; Aschermann, RV (slashing), 11:46.
Shots on goal — Summit 5-8-6 — 19; Ralston Valley 8-7-9 — 24. Saves — Summit (Dunlap) 6-4-9 — 19; Ralston Valley (Trujillo) 5-7-5 — 17. Power-play opportunities — Summit 0-for-5; Ralston Valley 1-for-7.
Jon E. Yunt: 303-954-1354 or jyunt@denverpost.com
