(Zach Fogg/CHSAANow.com)
LITTLETON — They dug hard and battled every step of the way. It wasn’t always pretty, but when the dust (snow) had settled and all was said and done, it was the Monarch Coyotes who would advance to take on Regis Jesuit in the state hockey semifinals.
Mountain Vista, the No. 1 seed out of the Peak Conference, put up a valiant fight, but in the end it was Monarch’s patented discipline and resiliency that would seal the Eagles’ fate.
After a back and forth first period in which the visiting team looked out of sorts, Monarch coach Jimmy Dexter rallied his squad to take control in the second, and they never looked back.
“I think we were a little nervous,” Dexter said after the game. “People forget we lost 17 players from last season. We’re a young team. But after we got in the locker room (after the first period) we got back to good habits and making the easy play, not forcing things.”
The scoring opened just four minutes into the game when Mountain Vista’s Jordan Cox intercepted an ill-advised breakout pass and centered it to linemate Reid Goodman, who wasn’t going to miss with half of the net to shoot at from point blank range. A few minutes later, the two would hook-up again, this time with Cox looking off Goodman on a two-on-one before slipping it shortside past Coyotes goaltender Hampus Akesson.
A late push in the first period saw Monarch’s Andrew Wagner take a full speed rush all the way through the neutral zone and into Mountain Vista territory, but a heads up play by Wyatt Williams saved a goal for the Eagles.
If the scoring opened early in the first period, then the second got underway even faster.
Carrying over a late power play from the first, Monarch wasted little time capitalizing on the game’s first man advantage. Justin White hammered a shot from the point that Mike Van Haute got a stick on to put the Coyotes on the board. Then, again, less than two minutes later, the visitors would tie it up when Jake Young buried an errant rebound past Eagles goalie Tanner Munn.
With just over two minutes to go in the second, the Coyotes (16-3-1 overall) would complete the comeback on the power play again. Off an offensive-zone faceoff to the right of Munn, Andrew Pickner walked in and roofed the puck short side to give Monarch the 3-2 lead.
“We just didn’t play a full three periods tonight,” said an emotional Mountain Vista coach Lev Cohen.
A late penalty and a bench minor at the end of the second period gave Mountain Vista (17-2-1) a 5-on-3 to start the third period, but the home team struggled to maintain possession, giving even more confidence to the rejuvenated Monarch squad.
That kill would be all that the Coyotes would need to hold onto the win, with Vista’s best chance from that point coming on a nice individual effort down the wing from Bryan Hancock, but the puck would sail just high.
The final minutes of the game were marked by chippy play on both sides, punctuated with at the end of the game by frustration boiling over and the referees having to separate the two teams.
“You can’t control how the game is officiated unfortunately, and I don’t think they had their best game tonight,” Cohen said. “But that’s not an excuse. It happens and you gotta stay playing your game. We didn’t tonight.”
It would be tough to discount the role that special teams played in the game. Power play opportunities were firmly in favor of Monarch, but the Eagles also had their 5-on-3 to start the third, as well as the man advantage to end the game.
For coach Dexter’s part, staying out of the box is all part of the grand scheme.
“I’m a coach who played the game my whole life too, so I stress discipline no matter what,” said Dexter. “Sometimes it’s tough, but I’m proud of how my team usually responds, and responded tonight. I mean a couple of those calls were pretty rough.”
No time to dwell on the officiating, though, for Monarch, who draws the No. 2-seeded Regis Raiders in the semifinals next Thursday at 8 p.m. at the Budweiser Events Center. Last time around, Regis beat the Coyotes 4-1 in a game that was closer than the score may indicate.
“We’re definitely going to work on moving the puck around to try and cut down on blocked shots,” Dexter revealed. “I swear last time they blocked like 40 shots. Their goalie is good, but small. I want to make him see as much rubber as possible.”
Monarch, a No. 4 seed out of the Foothills Conference, returns to the state semifinals for the third consecutive season. The Coyotes advanced to the state title game each of the last two years, but lost to Ralston Valley both times. Ralston Valley was upset by Cherry Creek on Saturday.