The Aspen girls traveled to Denver this weekend to participate in the MSGHL and CAHA state championship tournament, as all three Leafs teams (12U, 14U, and 19U) qualified with third place regular season finishes. Competition began Friday with the finals on Sunday at the Edge Ice Arena in southwest Denver. At the end of the weekend, the 12U team hoisted the state runner-up banner, and both the 14U and 19U teams headed home with third place finishes matching the regular season. Tournament summaries are below:
19U: Third seed Aspen started the playoff tournament with a 5-2 win over New Mexico. With balanced offensive production from Olivia Bond (2 goals), Jessica Tyler, Dara Schenck and Ali McNichol, the Leafs team play looked polished. In the second game against #2 seed Summit, the Leafs arguably played their best game of the season. Aspen outshot a strong Summit team by a staggering 39-14 margin. Kelsey Fitzgerald and captain Caroline Godfrey finally got the Leafs on the scoreboard with goals in the second period for a 2-0 lead. However, two bad bounces and a solid Summit goaltender down the stretch forced the Leafs to settle with a disappointing 2-2 tie. In game three, once again the Leafs dominated play but couldn't find the back of the net. Outshooting Colorado Springs 42-20, only Emma Harvy and Godfrey tallied goals in a 2-1 win. Goaltender Sonya Benson stopped three breakaways in the second and third periods to lift the team to victory. Game four was a must win for Aspen to advance against a deep veteran West Elk squad. Once again, Aspen finished with the shot advantage (20-14), but two early first period West Elk goals were too much to overcome in a tightly played 4-2 loss. With a 2-1-1 record (identical to Summit), the tournament tie-breaking rule came into play, and based on goal differential, Aspen's season was over. Godfrey, who was named to the MSGHL All League team, led the Leafs in scoring with six points (3 goals, 3 assists).
14U: The Leafs started off the weekend with a challenge, facing off first against top seed West Elk. Goaltender Julia Krys was excellent in net stopping 27 shots, including a second period barrage. Unfortunately the Aspen offense was unable to find the back of the net, and an early first period goal by West Elk was enough to defeat the Leafs 1-0. In game two, Aspen controlled the flow of play for most of the game against Steamboat, skating to a 3-0 victory. Lily Cassidy, Sophia Jacober, and Kristen Spang scored goals, and Krys was again perfect in net recording her third shutout of the season. In game three, Aspen toppled Summit 3-2 off goals from Claire Mitchell, Hayley Heinecken, and Lily Cassidy. Goaltender Lexi Ferlisi was solid between the pipes, making 17 saves. In the final pool-play game, the Leafs needed a win to stay alive in the tournament and secure a chance to defend their championship title from last season. However, instead of advancing, the Leafs were once again unable to get their offense going, and ultimately the team suffered a disappointing 2-1 loss to Vail. To learn their fate, Aspen had to wait for the final game pool-play game between Summit and Steamboat late Sunday morning. A win by Summit would have forced a three-way tie, which would have worked in Aspen's favor. Instead Summit tied Steamboat, Vail advanced to the finals, and Aspen returned home with a third place finish.
12U: The Aspen Leafs started the tournament shocking the state with a 1-1 tie over the powerhouse Colorado Select. The Select, a girls only USA Hockey national model association, who pulls players from multiple hockey clubs throughout the Denver-metro and surrounding areas, finished the regular season 12-0 with a staggering 88-7 goal differential. In what seemed to be a David versus Goliath matchup, Kristen Spang scored in the first period to give Aspen the early lead. A solid defense and a spectacular performance by goaltender Samantha Jaworski (15 saves) kept Aspen ahead until the Select scored the eventual game-tying goal with only five minutes left in the contest. In game two, Lily Cassidy, Tesa Conrardy, and Mia Seltzer scored goals in a 3-1 Aspen victory over Summit. In game three, the Aspen offense exploded for 6 goals in a 6-3 win over Steamboat. Hayley Heinecken scored two goals, and Ella Scott, Isabela Castillo, Amanda Simeone, and Cassidy each tallied one in the victory. In their third game, the Leafs were forced to come from behind to keep their playoff run alive against #2 seed New Mexico. Even though the Leafs outshot the Mustangs 27-14, they needed three goals in the third period to erase a 4-1 deficit. Team captain Heinecken lifted the Leafs by recording a hat-trick, which included the tying goal. With one point earned from the 4-4 tie, the Leafs advanced to the championship game to once again face-off against the top seeded Colorado Select. After a scoreless first period, the grind of a lot of games in a short period of time took its toll on the Leafs as they simply appeared to run out of gas. The Select took advantage of three second period goals and cruised to the victory. After the game, Aspen proudly raised the state runner-up banner and set its sites on coming back to claim the championship next season.
Tag(s): HOME