HOCKEY

Valor to the state championship game. “We’ve been fortunate to come out on the winning side of those 1-goal games this year. It was hard fought.” e Eagles took 1-goal victories in both regular-season meetings Feb. 4 and Feb. 10.

“Regis is such a great team. It’s a great rivalry,” Valor senior Aiden Owen said. “To play them again was awesome.”

Owen put in the eventual gamewinning goal with 3:05 left in the second period to put Valor up 3-2.

“He (Owen) in my mind is the best defenseman in the state,” Gwozdecky said. “He isn’t going to intimidate you with his size, but he has gamesmanship, competitive nature, skill level and aggressive demeanor.”

After the Eagles and Raiders combined for four goals in the second period, it was a shutout on both sides in the nal period.

“We knew going into it that it would be a high-scoring game,” Owen said. “ e guys really came together on the defensive side.”

Regis pulled its goalie in the nal 2 minutes and had the majority of the possession in the nal minutes in an attempt to send the game into overtime.

“We knew it was far from over,” Owen said of the nal 2 minutes. “Guys were putting their bodies on the line and selling out for the team. We wanted to get back to that Tuesday (championship game) so bad after last year’s loss.” to start the second quarter to grab a commanding 26-10 lead.

“It was a good punch by them,” Dakota Ridge senior Alex Rodriguez said of Mesa Ridge jumping out to a double-digit lead early in the second quarter. “Nothing but respect for that team. We knew it wasn’t going to be an easy game.”

Shooting didn’t come easy for the Eagles either in the loss. Dakota Ridge shot under 30 percent from the eld in the rst half. ey did nish just above 40 percent for the game, but the Grizzlies shot 63 percent for the game in the 10-point victory.

“ ey got hot there for a little bit and we didn’t have an answer,” Kovar said. Dakota Ridge battled in the second half outscoring Mesa Ridge by six points, but the hole was too deep to dig out of to get the win. Rodriguez nished with 15 points in his nal game as an Eagle. Sophomore Ethan Berninger nished with 11 points for Dakota Ridge.

“We fell short today, but I’d go to bat for those guys any day,” Kovar said.

“ ere is no other locker room I’d want to be in right now.” e Eagles graduate the majority of their varsity squad with nine seniors that were key in lifting Dakota Ridge’s basketball program to a level it hasn’t seen in nearly two decades.

“Nothing but good memories,” Rodriguez said of the season. “I’ve played with these guys since kindergarten. ese are all my best friends.”

Kovar added that he can’t wait to ‘reload’ for next year, but his senior

Valor is on a 19-game winning streak. e Eagles (19-1) dropped their season opener to Ralston Valley 4-3 in overtime more than three months ago and haven’t looked back.

It didn’t take Valor long to get on the scoreboard. Senior Garrett Covney was able to slip the puck past Regis goal Alijah Hernandez just 1 minute, 27 seconds into the rst period for a 1-0 Valor lead.

Senior Alec Al eri picked up the assist on the goal.

Valor extended the lead to 2-0 with a shorthanded goal with 11:25 left in the second period. Al eri made the diving e ort along the boards to get a pass up to senior Jeremy Muhr. e Eagles’ defenseman was able to fend o a Regis player and get a stick on the puck just before it got to Hernandez. Muhr’s last slap of the puck got it through Hernandez’s ve-hole for the 2-goal lead.

“ at gives us so much momentum,” Gwozdecky said of the shorthanded goal. “We had the opportunity to completely smother. You give them (Regis) full credit for coming back and taking advantage of some dumb penalties that we took.” e Raiders had a handful of powerplay opportunities that they couldn’t convert, but that changed midway through the second period.

Regis battled back with a pair of goals just over 3 minutes apart to tie things up in the second period. Regis junior Reece Peterson had a great pass in front of the net to senior Jake Filler who red it into the net for a power-play goal with 7:41 left in the second period.

A rocket shot from just inside the blue-line by sophomore Parker Brin- class will be dearly missed.

“We expect championship level basketball,” Kovar said after the Eagles’ rst trip of the Great 8 since 2004. “I’m really proud of these seniors that got us to this point. e work they put in and how they put Dakota Ridge back on the map. You just want to build on that success.”

Dakota Ridge nished the season with a 21-5 record while going unde- ner beat Valor goalie Cooper Robinson to tie it up 2-2 with 4:35 left in the second period.

Valor answered for the fourth goal of the period on a nice pass from senior Brooks Wright over to Owen. e shot by Owen beat Hernandez to give the Eagles a 3-2 lead heading to the nal period.

“I jumped into the play when I saw the one side wide-open,” Owen said. “Brooks fed me the pass. He did a great job drawing the defender. I just got the puck and wanted to get it on goal. ankfully it went in. It was electric. It was awesome.”

It’s was sixth concussive Frozen feated on its home court with an 11-0 mark. e Eagles went 10-0 in the 5A/4A Je co League and should be a force next year with Berninger returning as a key centerpiece for the Eagles going forward.

Dennis Pleuss is the sports information director for Je co Public Schools. For more Je co coverage, go to CHSAANow.com.

Four trip and now fourth straight state championship game appearance for Valor. e Eagles won back-to-back titles in 2020 and 2021 before losing to Denver East 6-3 last season in the nal game of the season.

Regis was the dominate hockey team in the state from 2008 to 2019 winning six championships over the 12-year span. e Raiders haven’t made the title game since their last state title in 2019.

Dennis Pleuss is the sports information director for Je co Public Schools. For more Je co coverage, go to CHSAANow.com.