AURORA — The opportunity smacked Ryan Ball in the face like the wind that picked up dramatically after the opening faceoff.
Regis Jesuit’s junior attackman found himself alone behind the Fort Collins goal with the ball. So he looped around to the opposite side and freely deposited one from point-blank range to spark the host Raiders to a 12-7 decision over the Vipers.
Ball’s score came with five seconds to play in the third quarter. Into the opening minutes of the fourth, he added another unassisted effort as Regis Jesuit (12-0), top-ranked in The Denver Post/9News poll, began to pull away.
“That was a big play for us,” Raiders coach Jim Soran said.
Off a turnover, Ball said he “just took it in. . . . We for sure picked it up.”
It had been 5-5 at halftime and the defensive-minded Vipers (5-3) were keeping the Raiders in check. But Ball scored the second of his game-high four goals — he also had an assist — and Regis Jesuit started to command the game’s tempo and spacing.
Logan Stelzner (three goals) and Blake Knobloch (two goals and two assists) added offense, and the Raiders’ defense held the Vipers to five shots in the second half and chalked up a scoreless third quarter.
“We had trouble clearing the ball, and we had a couple where we could have banged them in,” Vipers coach Carey Smith said. “It was a good nonleague game to have, and we’ve got to start winning some of them, but we’re coming around.”
Fort Collins 2 3 0 2 — 7
Regis Jesuit 2 3 2 5 — 12
Goals — FTC: Cadoo 2, Kelley 2, Creech, Bradley, Archer; RJ: R.Ball 4, Stelzner 3, Knobloch 2, Conner, D.Ball, Offner. Assists — FTC: Cadoo 2, Ranson 2, Mawhinney; RJ: Knobloch 2, Greenberg 2, Offner, Conner, R.Ball, Stelzner.
Neil H. Devlin: 303-954-1714 or ndevlin@denverpost.com
