Regis reigns supreme — again.
For the sixth time, and second in a row, Regis Jesuit is Colorado’s prep hockey state champion.
On Monday night at the Pepsi Center, the Raiders got their first and fifth goals from senior forward Colin Walsh and scored two others within 11 seconds of the second period to overwhelm sixth-seeded Dakota Ridge 5-2 in the state championship game.
“It’s incredible,” Walsh said of his second straight state title with the Raiders. “Just to be a part of this program is special. The words are hard to get out, but I’m just thankful for all my teammates, my coaches and my family right now.”
Regis finished 22-1 after its 12th straight trip to the Frozen Four. Dakota Ridge ended 15-6-2 after gunning for its first state title.
The Eagles, who upset No. 2 Valor Christian in Friday’s semifinals, jumped to a 1-0 lead before Regis scored three straight goals, the latter two by Sergio Padilla and Luke Dosen at 6:33 and 6:44 of the second period. Regis got third-period goals from Nicholas Schultz at 2:07 and Walsh (power play) at 5:53 to break it open.
Senior Parker Spaan, who plays on Dakota’s top line with Drew Eickelman and Graham Mansfield, scored at 12:02 of the second period to get the Eagles to 3-2 heading into the third period. But the underdogs committed the first three penalties of the third period and Walsh’s power-play goal was the back-breaker.
“That’s a well-coached team and they wear you down,” Dakota Ridge coach Jeff Towle said. “They move the puck well, force you to take long shifts, make mistakes, and they capitalize on it. It’s tough to take on a team like that — such a powerhouse. But great game for us, we still had a lot of fun.”
A crowd of nearly 4,100 turned out to hear Avalanche national anthem singer Jake Schroeder and radio/television talent Conor McGahey, who was the public-address announcer. They saw Dakota Ridge strike first with Jake Eickelman’s big slap shot off a faceoff win by his twin brother Drew, giving the Eagles the first lead 7:29 into the game.
Regis answered shortly thereafter when Walsh scored with a wrist shot from the left circle, and it was 1-1 after the first period.
“We were on our heels the whole first period,” Regis coach Dan Woodley said. “The Eickelman (twins) and that line were fresh, and those guys are so good. Between periods, we talked about not letting them on the rush, defend the rush, but attack them in their zone and make them play defense, and have them be tired when they received the puck and tried to get out of their zone. You could see the tides turning, because the Eickelman boys were getting a little bit tired. They were really the heart and soul of that team, and when they started getting fatigued, our depth showed.”
In the Eagles’ 5-1 upset over Valor on Friday, Drew Eickelman had a hand in each goal, scoring three.
“That was a disappointing way to end the season but Regis is a really skilled team, very well coached, and they were capitalizing and we weren’t,” he said. “But this was a fantastic experience. It was great to play at the Pepsi Center in front of our student body. Just something I’ll never forget.”
Eickelman was ejected late in the third period after his big hit on Regis captain Kale Lone, who was bloodied in the face. Eickelman was assessed a five-minute major for head contact and game misconduct. Eickelman said he checked Lone with his shoulder. Pepsi Center producers didn’t play video of the hit.
But the Eickelman twins posed for pictures with Regis goalie Marco Sandoval after the game when Lone returned to the ice for the celebration.
In the preceeding junior-varsity state championship game, Valor defeated Regis 1-0.
REGIS 5, DAKOTA RIDGE 2
Dakota Ridge 1 1 0 – 2
Regis 1 2 2 — 5
First period — 1. DR, J. Eickelman (D. Eickelman), 7:29. 2, RJ, C. Walsh (Dosen), 10:03. Penalties — Votaw, DR (interference), 10:45; Alexiev, DR (cross-checking), 12:21; Sargent, RJ (interference), 12:51; C. Walsh, RJ (hooking), 16:01. Second period — 3, RJ, S. Padilla (Schultz, Lone), 6:33. 4, RJ, Dosen (M. Padilla), 6:44. 5, DR, Spaan (Mansfield), 12:02. Penalty– Skanderbeg, DR (holding), 2:22. Third period — 6, RJ, Schultz (Lone), 2:07. 7, RJ, C. Walsh (L. Walsh, Dosen), 5:53 (pp). Penalties — Votaw, DR (hooking), 4:30; Mansfield, DR (slashing), 7:32; D. Eickelman, DR (5-major, contact to head, game misconduct), 15:55; Schultz, RJ (hooking), 16:18; Dosen, RJ (roughing), 14:43.
