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Peak to Peak captures hockey crown

Karl Licis, Special to the News

Published February 26, 2006 at midnight

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COLORADO SPRINGS — The state-championships formula for Peak to Peak may be simple enough: Keep Greg Borchers in front of the net.

The Pumas took the 3A state soccer title with Borchers as their goalkeeper last fall, and Saturday, with Borchers minding the net, Peak to Peak downed previously unbeaten Cheyenne Mountain 3-1, to capture the state high school ice hockey crown.

"I don't know how I got a couple of those, I really don't." Borchers said as his teammates skated the championship trophy around the World Arena, the significance of the moment slowly sinking in. "That one with (Cheyenne Mountain's forward Alex) Lofthus — he expected that to score, it's the scariest thing coming down — thank God the puck didn't cross that goal line."

Lofthus, the Cheyenne Mountain's leading scorer and playmaker through a 21-0-1 season, had broke in on Borchers for a point-blank shot, but he wasn't the only Indian not to score. Cheyenne Mountain peppered Borchers with 30 shots on goal, including 17 in a frenzied, third-period attack. Borchers turned away all but one.

"It was the kid between the pipes," a dejected Cheyenne Mountain coach Mike Provenzano said of the difference in the game. "We did everything we had to. It was unbelievable. We outshot them about four-to-one in the third period but nothing got by him."

Almost nothing. Cheyenne Mountain took the lead less than two minutes into the game, when David Rogers jammed the puck past Borchers off a break-away. Neither team scored again in the first period, despite an extended power play opportunity for Peak To Peak after Cheyenne Mountain's Matt Lee was assessed a 5-minute major and game disqualification for checking from behind.

"It was one-nothing and we went into the locker room and everybody seemed kind of down," said Matt Gooderum, a senior forward for the Pumas. "The seniors on the team kept pounding it into their head not to give up.

Gooderum soon set an example, rebounding a shot by Chris Greene past Indians' goalie Sam Garcia for Peak To Peak's first score with 9:30 remaining in the second period..

"He just came down, he got a loose puck and it was a breakaway by him," Gooderum said. "He made a pretty good move and the goalie made an even better stop. I was just lucky to be there. I was just backchecking and the puck just popped right there and I put it in."

Josh Wrebe put the Pumas ahead with 6:10 remaining in the period, setting the stage for the third-period Indian attack and Borcher's heroics.

"He's obviously a hockey all star," said Peak To peak coach Jim Moffett. "He has lightning-fast hands, he's able to keep it together and we were able to hold onto that game."

Peak To Peak, in its second season of hockey competition, entered the tournament as the seventh seed with a 16-6-0 record.

Peak to Peak 0 2 1 - 3
Cheyenne Mountain 1 0 0 - 1

Scoring:

1st period: CM, David Rogers (Rob Naughton, Jeff Royce assists).

2nd period: PTP, Matt Gooderum (Chris Greene, Dan Banta assists); PTP Josh Wrede (Greene assist).

3rd period: PTP, PTP, Gooderum, (Wrede, Ryan Meyer assists.

Saves:

PTP, Greg Borchers 3-9-17 — 29

CM., Sam Garcia 3-4-4 — 11.

3-Point goals — PC 2 (Harris, Baker), L 3 (Henry 2, Armenta 1). Fouled Out — Hunt (PC).