HS Hockey – Defending the APEX
The Ralston Valley Mustangs continued their quest for a second consecutive Colorado State Championship as they took on the Summit Tigers at the APEX Center on Tuesday night. The Mustangs came into the game undefeated on the season and Summit, from Frisco, Colorado, were struggling with a record of 1-9.
Ralston Valley started mainly bench players for this game and still scored a goal in the first period while holding the Tigers scoreless. The Stangs added a second goal in the second period to take a 2-0 lead going into the third period. In the final 17 minutes of the game Ralston Valley tacked on two more goals to win the game 4-0 and remain undefeated for the season, holding a better record than they did at this point last season.
The Summit Tigers also surprised me with a girl playing on the boys team. In Alaska, I thought it was unfair to allow girls on the boys teams since their was a girls hockey program, but they still did, and honestly, in my opinion, there were very few girls on the boys teams that could compete with the boys up there. Here in Colorado there is not a girls hockey program offered through the schools, but this girl player for Summit was the first girl I had seen on a roster in two seasons. I honestly did not notice her until near the end of the game, but for the 4 or 5 minutes I saw her on the ice, she was holding her own. She not only lined up for a face off, she won the face off, and had both good puck control and good skating skills and it never looked like she was holding back. Way to go Summit Tigers Elle Dice. Keep it up.
Still suffering from this cold that will not go away, I decided to try something different for the game and left my strobes at home. I shot both my cameras under ambient light and shot in RAW. Took a lot longer to edit the photos, and found it was doable at the APEX Center, but I prefer the images I get with my strobes and will be bringing them back to the APEX for the next home game.
Here is my 10 Shot from the game.
These shots and more are available to view and purchase through MaxPreps.
