LITTLETON — The scoreboard called for eight minutes of overtime Saturday night to decide between Regis and Chatfield.
The Raiders needed just eight seconds.
Nick Carey roared into the Chatfield zone like a dump truck with a soft touch, deftly moving around a screen, down the right side and finishing to the left to cap a 3-2 Foothills League victory at The Edge Ice Arena.
“Before the faceoff, I said to (teammate Connor) Hayes, ‘Tie up your guy, I’m coming through,’ ” Carey said. “From there, it’s just a mental block to me. Those go in, and I still wonder why they went in sometimes.”
It was an abrupt end to an up-and-down encounter between one of prep hockey’s heavyweights and the second-year Chargers, who weathered a penalty-filled second period to score twice in the third.
Hayes’ wrister from inside the left circle gave Regis a 1-0 lead midway through the first period before the Chargers tied the game 29 seconds into the third period on a goal by junior Kristofer Boguniewicz. Regis regained the lead on a breakaway goal by Taylor Cline but the Chargers answered with 3:12 remaining with a power- play goal by Matthew Anthone.
“We looked at each other and we said, ‘Hey, we need to come out and play Regis hockey,’ ” Hayes said. “We’re four lines deep, we’re all really good players, we all rely on all of us to win the games. So at the end, that’s just exactly what happened.”
The Raiders (10-1-1, 4-0-1 in league) won their third straight to set up Tuesday’s showdown with undefeated Ralston Valley.
Regis goalie David Nowicki made 17 saves for the victory, although he was often outshined during regulation by the play of Chatfield goalie Cory Johnson, who finished with 18 saves.
Johnson is sure he stopped Cline’s goal in the third period as he gloved the puck and was knocked back into his goal. The referee ruled that Johnson’s glove crossed into the net.
“He came down center, our guy tripped him and he got the shot off backhanded,” Johnson said. “I just caught it with my glove. I had it in the air the entire time. My back hit the net but I kept my glove out the entire time.”
The Chargers (6-8-1, 3-4) dropped their second straight and have just one victory in their past seven games.
Regis 1 0 1 1 — 3
Chatfield 0 0 2 0 — 2
First period — R: Hayes (Ottenbreit) 10:23. Penalties — Cline, R, (interference) 8:52; Amstutz, C, (tripping) 2:14.
Second period — None. Penalties — Nahmensen, C, (slashing) 12:22; Ottenbreit, R, (hooking) 8:45; Stornelli, C, (holding) 6:01; Kube, C, (boarding) 3:08; Gregg, R, (unsportsmanlike conduct) 2:15; Harris, C, (goaltender interference) 1:49.
Third period — C: Boguniewicz (Anthone, Stornelli) 14:31; R: Cline (unassisted) 6:25; C: Anthone (Kube) 3:12 pp. Penalties — Cline, R, (interference) 10:47; W. Johnson, C, (too many men on the ice) 9:16; C. Johnson, C, (roughing), 5:27; Miller, R, (slashing) 4:18; Ottenbreit, R, (unsportsmanlike conduct) 3:12.
Overtime — R: Carey (Hayes), 7:52.
Saves — Regis (Nowicki) 6-5-6-0 – 17; Chatfield (Johnson) 7-7-4-0 – 18. Power-play opportunities — Regis 0-for-6; Chatfield 1-for-5.
