Arapahoe Spring Hockey Kicks Off Season (With Photos)
March 19, 2018
Arapahoe spring hockey started their High Plains Hockey season this past Saturday, March 17th.
The spring hockey season looks a little different from the winter CHSAA season. Although High Plains hockey isn’t recognized as an official sport in most schools, teams still play under their high school name. The LPS team plays under Heritage for the CHSAA season, but it switches to Arapahoe for the spring. Arapahoe has two Varsity teams this year, one in Tier II and the other in Tier IV.
The Tier IV team played first on Saturday against Cherry Creek at Ice Ranch. Arapahoe was the first to score in the game with a goal from Zachary May. However, Cherry Creek was quick to respond and scored four goals with the end of the first resulting in a score 4-1 Creek.
Things were looking bad for Arapahoe. Their goalie was injured early in the second and the team was trailing by three. This did not stop Arapahoe from playing their hardest and they looked like a completely different team when they hit the ice for the second and third period. The backup goalie did not let Creek score again. Kyler Wooten scored in the second and Dylan Thompson scored in the third bringing the game within one point. There just wasn’t enough time for Arapahoe to make a full comeback. The final score was 4-3 Creek (Sportsengine).
Later that night the Tier II Varsity team took on Mountain Vista at EDGE Ice Arena. The game started slow with no score in the first. Arapahoe picked up the pace in the second with a goal from Sam Denlinger and another from Matthew More. Both teams scored in the third with an Arapahoe empty netter from Ryan Larese. The game was fairly clean with only one penalty from both sides combined. The final score was 3-1 Arapahoe (Sportsengine).
Both teams have some time before their next games. The Tier IV team plays Chaparral on Thursday, March 29th at Family Sports Center at 5:50 pm. The Tier II team plays Friday, March 30th, at DU Magness Arena at 8:00 pm against Ponderosa following the Tier IV game at 6:00 against Rock Canyon.
Photos from Tier IV vs Cherry Creek:
