CENTENNIAL — There were no style points, no high awards from judges and it certainly wasn’t a keeper from a video standpoint.
However, Regis Jesuit’s 6-2 victory over Columbine in ice hockey in the Foothills League on Saturday at Family Sports Center kept the Raiders moving forward after the holiday break.
“It wasn’t pretty,” Regis Jesuit coach Dan Woodley said. “Wish we could have shown you a better game.
“From my estimation, the game was turned into a mucking, ugly game, which allowed Columbine to compete with us. If we play a clean, finesse speed, puck-movement game, (the Rebels) can’t compete with us. We would prefer to play that way. Instead, we allowed ourselves to get into that mucking, grinder-type game, which we can play, but it’s just not our best game.”
Still, the Raiders, 7-0 overall and 5-0 in league, don’t appear to be in serious trouble. Overall, they have outscored their opposition by an aggregate 40-11. And coupled with their 4-2 victory over what is viewed as a good Dakota Ridge team Friday, it wasn’t a bad weekend.
“So when you look at the puck movement and the finesse, we would much rather play that type of game. We’re just better at finesse,” Woodley said. “We just have to be more adamant about we’re going to do this.”
The Raiders, he added, need to work on developing their depth, but putting up six scores against Columbine was pleasing.
Forward Grant Johnson managed two of them.
“Coming back from break, we still don’t really have our legs under us,” Johnson said. “But we got out of the weekend with two big wins.”
Regis Jesuit took command and held it. Cale Woodley, Jack Jordan, Michael Baer and Jack Kilkenny also found the back of the net for the Raiders, who took advantage of Rebels penalties late to put it away.
The Raiders peppered Rebels goalie Forrest Czarnecki with shots as if he was a clay pigeon — Regis Jesuit owned a 24-8 advantage in shots on goal through the first two periods.
Defensively, Regis Jesuit clamped down on Columbine and survived a 5-on-3 advantage late in the first period.
Jacob Seibold and Dustin Ossello scored for Columbine (5-4, 3-2).
Now, Coach Woodley requires more in a season he foresees developing into a wide-open situation.
“It’s a great year this year. There are a lot of good teams, and you really don’t know who’s up top,” he said. “But when you look at the scores, oh, my gosh … it’s getting better, and the top teams have to play their best games to prove they’re the top teams.”
