Monarch hockey is headed back to the championship game following a win over Ralston Valley in the semifinals. More photos. (Matt Mathewes/MVPSportsPics.com)
LOVELAND — Blake Bride has a history of stepping up in the postseason. Under the lights of a big arena, he did it again on Thursday night.
Bride, a senior, had a hat-trick to lead Monarch to hockey’s championship game for the fourth consecutive season. The Coyotes, a No. 1 seed, beat Ralston Valley 6-2 in the semifinals at the Budweiser Events Center.
“I struggled at the beginning of the year,” said Bride, who had 37 points in 16 regular season games, “but in the playoffs, I always try to find a new level. I play my best hockey there.”
Bride has now scored in six straight games, including all three postseason contests. He leads Monarch with five goals in the state tournament.
But this isn’t exactly a new thing for him. He had three goals in last year’s postseason, including two in the semifinals.
“His effort is — the way he goes, I mean you can’t stop him,” said Monarch coach Jimmy Dexter. “And he can bury when he needs to.”
Monarch (22-0-0 this season) has now reached the state title game for a fourth straight year. They have lost in the three previous trips. And, yes, they are well aware.
“We try not to talk about it much, but we remember,” Bride said. “So we come out the next year with fire, and we go out there and play our hardest. Hopefully it’s our year. But you never know if bounces will go our way. We’re really confident this year.”
Added Dexter: “We mention that this is the year, that we’re not going to be second. We had one goal this year, and this is the first time we’ve ever come in as a 1 seed. And we’re still undefeated. We have one more game to finish it off, hopefully.”
More photos. (Matt Mathewes/MVPSportsPics.com)
Monarch spent the entire season atop CHSAANow.com’s coach poll, and has yet to lose. Still, it’s not as though reaching yet another title game is not some cakewalk.
“I don’t think people understand, in the playoffs of hockey, how hard it is to win in a one-game situation, because it’s a piece of rubber on the ice,” Dexter said. “You get a bad bounce off the glass, you bounce it off of people’s bodies. You know, you could outshoot someone 40-3 and lose to a hot goalie. Yeah, it’s tough. So it’s nice to be back and we’re all hoping we can get over the hump this year.”
On Thursday, Monarch grabbed a 2-0 lead with a pair of quick goals midway through the first period. First, Jake Young took a nice feed from Brendan VanHaute and tapped in an easy goal. Then, 34 seconds later, Bride one-timed a pass home from Mason Peterson.
“That’s been all year, with all of these guys,” Dexter said of the quick start. “We’re so talented up front.”
VanHaute made it 3-0 in the second period when his centering attempt deflected in off a Ralston Valley player. Bride added to the lead later in the second period when he converted on a penalty shot with a backhand deke. He had been pulled down on a shorthanded breakaway.
Moments later, Stefan Fruhwirth converted on the same power play for Ralston Valley and made it 4-1.
But Monarch was having no part of a comeback. Bride completed his hat-trick when he tapped home the puck during a scramble in front of the net with less than six minutes left in the second period.
VanHaute added his second goal in the third period to push the score to 6-1, and Ralston Valley’s Matt Trubacz scored late to account for the final tally.
Monarch goalie Hunter Ingino made 17 saves in the win. And his defensemen did a good job of blocking shots in front of him, especially on the power play.
The Coyotes advance to play Regis Jesuit, which beat Mountain Vista in the other semifinal. The championship game is at 1 p.m. Saturday, also at the Budweiser Events Center.