REGIS REJOICING
Regis Jesuit’s Wyatt Verity, center, and his teammates celebrate their state championship victory over Valor Christian on Tuesday night at the Pepsi Center. The Raiders beat the Eagles 2-0. Regis’ Connor Kilkenny scored the game-winner — a short-handed goal — in the first period.
As puck drop for Tuesday’s Colorado high school hockey championship approached, the lines outside the Pepsi Center stretched about 100 yards, a sign of the state’s continued growth and interest in the sport.
And inside the arena, it was Regis Jesuit that asserted control over the burgeoning prep hockey landscape once again, as the No. 1-seeded Raiders won their fifth state championship with a 2-0 victory over No. 3 Valor Christian.
The first period featured backand-forth pressure and some crowd-rousing checks, with no shots on goal through the first six-plus minutes. Regis maintained slight control of the tempo, but Valor appeared to gain an edge when Anders Erickson was called for interference.
But Regis was the team that used the penalty to its advantage, as Connor Kilkenny netted an unassisted, short-handed goal on a breakaway after an Eagles turnover to make it 1-0 with 4:44 to play in the first.
“It was a big momentum shifter,” Kilkenny said. “It got the crowd going, it got us going — it set the tone for the rest of the game, I think.”
Valor, playing without leading scorer Luke Wheeler because of an injury suffered in the semifinal win over Monarch, nearly responded when Luke Lonneman crossed over a couple of Raiders defenders and sent a backhanded shot that flew high past the net with less than 20 seconds to play in the period.
The Raiders outshot Valor Christian 6-1 in the first as the Eagles struggled to find creases in a defense headlined by Nolan Sargent and Sergio Padilla.
“Defensively, our goal was to play in the offensive zone and not allow their skill players to convert while they were in our zone,” Regis coach Dan Woodley said. “Our attacks were very sharp, and we very infrequently let them carry the puck to our net.”
In the second, the Raiders continued to control the pace. First, Colin Walsh clanked a shot off the post. Then, a few minutes later, at the 10:40 mark, Kale Lone casually wristed home a power-play goal off assists from Kilkenny and Justin Lico to make it 2-0.
Regis took that advantage into the third, when Valor would have its glimpses offensively, but the Raiders were clearly intent on not having a final-period letdown as happened in last season’s 2-1 setback to Monarch at the University of Denver.
“We talked in the locker room. Obviously, I won a state title as a sophomore and I lost as a junior, so I knew there was every possibility that we could blow the lead because they’re a really good team,” Kilkenny said. “We just had the mind-set of getting everything deep and playing defensively.”
Senior Raiders goalie Max Harlan made a number of impressive stops, including a couple of flashy kick saves.
With the win, the Raiders capped off the first perfect season in program history — going 23-0 — while the Eagles — making their first title appearance — finished 20-3 under thirdyear coach George Gwozdecky.
“This team developed from August until now, and really came into their own,” Woodley said. “They put a championship season as their No. 1 goal — everybody was pushing for it — and to go do it in 23-0 fashion is unbelievable.”