Ralston Valley leads crowded pack of contenders in state hockey

With the onset of the state hockey tournament finally at hand, the final step of Ralston Valley's season-long goal of returning to the state title game will be put into motion.

However, the playoff pressure probably won't be anyhing new to this year's version of the Mustangs. After all, Ralston Valley (Arvada) has spent the past month playing with the mindset that the postseason had already started.

As one of the two No. 1 seeds in the state tournament, Ralston Valley will be considered one of the favorites when first-round play begins Friday. Most believe it will be a wide-open tournament, and a field in which a lower seed could easily get hot enough to make a Frozen Four run. Yet the Mustangs are hopeful their intense late-season approach carries over.

"We lost a lot of guys from last year's team, but we have a lot of juniors and seniors back," Ralston Valley coach Matt Schoepflin said. "We definitely have a lot of people on this team who have made the state finals and have had a lot of success in high school hockey. We've been saying that the playoffs started for us four weeks ago. One of our goals this season was to win our conference, and we had to run the table against some pretty good teams to do that."

Ralston Valley's late surge essentially began on Jan. 14 at Monarch (Louisville), when the Mustangs rallied from a 2-0 deficit to post a 3-2 win that ultimately made the difference between Ralston Valley and the second-place Coyotes atop the Foothills Conference standings.

Down the stretch, the Mustangs (16-2-1) ran through most of the other state title contenders, avenging one of their two losses with a victory against Standley Lake (Westminster) on Feb. 6 and topping Regis Jesuit (Aurora) in a rematch of the 2012 state title game two days later.

While Ralston Valley perhaps lacks a go-to scorer—the team's leader in points, Charles Joly, is tied for 11th overall in the state with 35 points—the Mustangs boast a versatile attack in which seven players have compiled at least 14 points.

"Some people may look at this as good or bad, but with our schedule I think it's to our advantage that we seemed to play all the tough teams in our conference over the last two weeks of the season," Schoepflin said. "We've played a lot of good teams in a short amount of time. Hopefully it worked to prepare us for the tournament."

While Ralston Valley earned its No. 1 seed through balance and an impressive knack for winning close games, the tournament's other No. 1 seed, Fountain Valley (Colorado Springs), has gotten the job done behind an overwhelming offensive attack.

The Danes, winners of the Peak Conference, enter the tournament with three of the top eight point-producers in the state in Trevor Shott (35 goals, 16 assists), Jakub Myska (21 goals, 24 assists), and Sage Marshall (16 goals, 23 assists).

Fountain Valley believes the top four teams out of the Foothills Conference—Ralston Valley, Monarch, Regis, and Resurrection Christian (Loveland)—may very well be the top four teams going into the tournament.

Head-to-head results from the regular season appear to lend credence to that idea, as the Danes suffered lopsided losses against both Regis and Ralston Valley, although both games occurred early in the year.

Monarch and Mountain Vista (Highlands Ranch) own the No. 2 seeds, while Air Academy and Resurrection Christian comprise the No. 3 seeds.

"There isn't one standout power, and in that Foothills Conference I think those top four teams are all interchangeable," Fountain Valley coach Mike Payne said. "On our side I think it's similar. If the top four teams played 10 times, they'd all probably split. It's going to be pretty wide open."

The 16-team tournament begins on Friday with quarterfinal-round games to follow Saturday. The Frozen Four will be held at the University of Denver's Magness Arena, with the semifinals scheduled for Feb. 28 and the state title game to follow on March 1.

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