Glenwood hockey nabs 2-1 win over tough Crested Butte team, eyes the No. 1 seed
Cathy Miller/Courtesy photo
Glenwood Springs High School hockey inched closer to gaining home-ice advantage in the upcoming Class 4A state playoffs after it beat a tough Crested Butte team 2-1 on Wednesday.
Crested Butte had only lost three games prior to Wednesday, while the Demons — whose roster includes a handful of Aspen players this season — have been sitting atop of the 4A rankings in the Colorado High School Activities Association coaches’ rankings since Monday.
In order to gain home-ice advantage, the Demons needed to win out in the regular season.
During Wednesday’s win, the Demons came out in the first period without getting any good chances, head coach Tim Cota said. This led to Crested Butte’s Dominick Cerio slipping one past Demons goaltender Marek Sennat at 9:59 in the first period.
Late in the second period, the Demons started getting better chances and Kale Tibbetts, at 4:34, netted one past Crested Butte goaltender Jack Perkins.
“We surely don’t want to be a perimeter team, so we had to break into the house at some point with some grit,” Cota said.
Cota said Cole could have retaliated on the crosscheck in front of the net, but he took a hit to make a play and that put the Demons on a 5 on 3.
“That was a crucial disciplined play that led to Tibbets being able to walk the top of the circle and rip the net unobstructed for the tying goal, with assists to Cole and Sammy Rosenberg,” he said.
In the third period, Demons player Ryan Rigney found the back of the net at 14:44 left in the game. But Glenwood wasn’t in the clear just yet. Glenwood player Jase Joslin took a penalty late in the game, Crested Butte pulled their goalie and the Demons had to survive a 6-4 attack.
“We showed a lot of composure on the bench throughout that game, never panicked and kept pressing, yeah we made mistakes but you know what, we responded correctly the entire way and the result demonstrated that,” Demons coach Joey Luetke said.
The Demons play their final game of the regular season at Summit. The game is slated for 7:15 p.m. Friday.
Brackets for the 2023 4A state tournament will likely be announced by CHSAA on Sunday or Monday, Cota said.
