Aspen High hockey building winning streak
The Aspen Times
Aubree Dallas / The Aspen Time |
Riding the momentum of back-to-back victories last weekend, the Aspen High School hockey team will host two more conference opponents Friday and Saturday.
The Skiers, who beat Columbine and Chatfield on consecutive nights at the Lewis Ice Arena, will be back on home ice at 7 p.m. Friday when Mullen visits.
At 4 p.m. Saturday, Aspen and Standley Lake will take the ice at the Aspen Rec Center.
“We need to go out and play our game, play Skier hockey and take care of business,” Aspen head coach Dru Lucchesi said. “We need to stay out of the (penalty) box. These are four points we need.”
That would be four points in the conference standings with two wins at home, wins that would keep the Skiers in position to advance to the postseason playoffs.
The Aspen High School hockey team climbed back up in the standings with a 4-2 win over Chatfield and a dramatic 2-1 win over Columbine in overtime.
Vic Dunn converted the game-winning goal, assisted by Ryan Fitzgerland, with just 30 seconds left in overtime.
“The Columbine win was huge for us,” Lucchesi said. “It moved us … up. It was big because we had lots of penalties.”
Lucchesi said the Skiers are creating more scoring chances.
“We’re moving the puck better,” he said.
One day later, Aspen scored four goals and led 4-1 for much of the contest. A late goal produced the final 4-2 score as the Skiers improved to 5-4-0 in the statewide Foothills League. They are 5-6-0 overall.
Mullen enters Friday with a 1-8-0 conference mark, 3-9-0 overall.
Standley Lake is 4-7-0 overall, 2-6-0 in conference.
“We played really well defensively last weekend,” Lucchesi said, adding that the Skiers will need a similar performance on their home ice this weekend.
“We’ve got to get it done. These are games we need,” Lucchesi said.
The AHS hockey team will be back on the road next weekend with a Feb. 6-7 trip to the Front Range to play at Kent Denver and at Ralston Valley, respectively.
The Skiers will host Valor Christian on Feb. 13 before a Feb. 14 trip to Monarch (Louisville).
Aspen will close the regular season with home games against Battle Mountain on Feb. 20 and Summit on Feb. 21.
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