COLORADO SPRINGS — Nick Davis’ dream became a reality Saturday afternoon.
The Regis freshman’s goal in double overtime gave the Raiders a 3-2 victory over Battle Mountain at the World Arena and the first state hockey title for the school.
“You always think about it before you go to bed at night, maybe you’ll be the one to score the game-winner in the state championship,” said Davis, who logged just five shifts Saturday. “You never think it’s going to come true, but it does, and it feels great.”
Regis (20-1-1), which came into the league with Battle Mountain in 2001-02, capitalized on its first trip to the Frozen Four, winning both its games at the World Arena in extra time.
Davis’ game-winner came moments after Battle Mountain had killed off a penalty. The Huskies were still getting organized, and the Raiders kept the puck in the zone. Nick Davis’ big brother Gregg slipped him a pass, the freshman let loose from just inside the blue line, and the deflected shot got past Huskies goalie Kalen Burnett.
“My team got me here, I just had to do one thing to win it,” said Nick Davis, who scored just eight goals during the regular season and hadn’t even broken a sweat. “This is the only one that mattered.”
Said Battle Mountain coach Gary Defina: “The penalty set us back on our heels a little bit, and we didn’t get the right personnel back on the ice . . . just a bad bounce.”
The first overtime featured great chances for both teams to end it. Battle Mountain’s Gustav Philipson had his breakaway attempt saved by Raiders goalie David Nowicki, who earlier in the third period did the same thing to Ryan Maddux.
It was sweet redemption for Nowicki. After the Raiders had taken the lead in the third period on John Booren’s goal, the senior gave up the equalizer on a soft shot off the stick of Geoff Funk.
“I knew I should of had that one,” said Nowicki, who made 21 saves en route to being named The Denver Post’s championship game MVP. “I felt like I had let my teammates down, I just lost sight of that one. But we were able to bounce back.”
Regis’ best chance in the first overtime was by Nick Carey, whose wrist shot got past Burnett only to deflect off the crossbar.
The Raiders scored the first goal of the game late in the first period on sophomore Evan Lloyd’s rebound of Nick Mohr’s shot.
Barrett Chow took a brilliant pass from Maddux early in the second period, and with a head of steam jetted past a Raiders defender to net the Huskies’ first goal of the game.
Battle Mountain (20-3), with 11 seniors on the roster, has been to the title game three times and is still in search of its first title.
Regis joins Peak to Peak (2006) and Kent Denver (2003) as the only metro-area teams to win titles this decade.
Regis 1 0 1 0 1 — 3
Battle Mountain 0 1 1 0 0 — 2
First period — R: Lloyd (Mohr), 12:27. Penalties — Maddux, BM (tripping), 4:36; Carey, R (cross-checking), 8:44.
Second period — BM: Chow (Maddux), 3:59. Penalty — Cline, R (interference), :33.
Third period — R: Booren (unassisted), 4:00; BM: Funk (E. Davis, Coffey), 8:24. Penalties — Brust, BM (holding), 1:58; Beairsto, BM (unsportsmanlike conduct), 1:58.
Overtime — None. Penalty — Cline, R (boarding), :19.
Second overtime — R: N. Davis (G. Davis), 3:05. Penalty — Wyatt, BM (tripping), :58.
Shots on goal — Regis 8-12-7-5-3 — 35; Battle Mountain 5-7-5-6-0 — 23. Saves — Regis (Nowicki) 5-6-4-6-0 — 21; Battle Mountain 7-12-6-5-2 — 32. Power-play opportunities — Regis 0-for-3; Battle Mountain 0-for-3.
Jon E. Yunt: 303-954-1354 or jyunt@denverpost.com
