Class 5A hockey certainly hasn’t been easy for any team this year, but fifth-ranked Monarch seems to be wading through the thick of it just fine.
This week alone, the Coyotes faced off with three top-nine teams and didn’t suffer a single loss. On Saturday night on their home ice, they tied No. 2 Regis Jesuit 2-2 in a comeback effort that had them singing Ben Rosenberg’s praises.
The forward — who’s generally an assist machine with 10 to his name — sank his fifth goal of the season with 15 minutes, 48 seconds remaining to stick the Raiders with a draw instead of a win.
“He took a nice pass (from Jaren Ng). He got loose on a breakaway and buried it. He kind of did a fake shot and the goalie went down,” head coach Jimmy Dexter said. “We were pretty evenly-matched up and down the ice.”
Forward Zachary Rathbun accounted for the other goal, which he scored in the early minutes of the second period. Regis’ two scores came in rapid-fire succession just a few minutes later.
In the few days leading up to Saturday’s matchup, the Coyote defense had been hot enough to melt the ice beneath their skates. They tied No. 5 Poudre School District with a 5-5 final on Thursday, then turned right around to destroy No. 9 Castle View with a 6-1 effort on Friday night.
Connor Wilkerson and Colter Urban gave the Coyotes the 2-0 upper hand to start their Thursday game against PSD, but saw the Stars swing the momentum fully in their favor after that. PSD went on to score the next four goals, leaving Monarch playing catch up.
Urban delivered the equalizer to make it 4-4 with 50 seconds left in the second frame, just a couple of minutes after Joseph Buschmann helped inch the Coyotes closer. Branden DeSouza-Chen delivered the final blow to the Stars’ chances of winning by sinking the final goal of the game with 12:33 left on the clock.
Castle View fared much worse.
Ryan Beals put the Coyotes on the map in the waning minutes of the first period, only to see the Sabercats tie things up at 1-1 with an unassisted shot midway through the second. That lone goal later proved to be the last gasp of Castle View’s offense that night.
Throughout the remainder of the game, the Coyotes spread the puck out far and wide, making them near impossible to defend against. Jesper Olofsson, Wilkerson, Charlie Broome, Rosenberg and Rathbun all contributed to the final score.
The Coyotes exited their tough week with a 7-3-4 record, and will begin their final stretch toward the postseason when they host Resurrection Christian next Saturday. The last time they met the Cougars, they dominated them 10-1.
