{"id":804609,"date":"2020-02-25T21:33:25","date_gmt":"2020-02-26T04:33:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/?p=379551"},"modified":"2020-02-25T21:33:25","modified_gmt":"2020-02-26T04:33:25","slug":"shorthanded-summit-high-school-hockey-fights-but-falls-in-first-round-playoff-game-vs-castle-view","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/local-news\/shorthanded-summit-high-school-hockey-fights-but-falls-in-first-round-playoff-game-vs-castle-view\/","title":{"rendered":"Shorthanded Summit High School hockey fights but falls in first round playoff game vs. Castle View"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Summit High’s Ranger Stone and Castle View’s Payton Poole vie for the puck Tuesday, Feb. 25, at the Stephen C. West Ice Arena in Breckenridge. The Tigers fell to the Sabercats 5-2.<\/strong>
Liz Copan \/ ecopan@summitdaily.com<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

BRECKENRIDGE \u2014 The Summit High School varsity hockey team was up against it Tuesday night at Stephen C. West Ice Arena. Missing several players due to disciplinary action from school, the Tigers weren\u2019t really able to go three lines deep in their first-round home playoff game versus the Castle View Sabercats.<\/p>\n

Certain players, like defensemen Nick Davis and Zach Carleton, played twice as many minutes as they normally would, scratching and clawing to help the 2019-20 team live to see another day. Despite their best efforts, including a fast and furious third period, the Tigers fell to the Sabercats 5-2. With the loss, Summit\u2019s Peak Conference championship season ended in the first round of the 24-team state playoff. But it wasn\u2019t without a fight.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat goalie, he probably had the best game statistically that he has played this season, for sure,\u201d Tigers head coach Joey Otsuka said about Sabercats goaltender Parker Fromin, who stopped more than 30 shots. \u201cBut on the other side, too, we were just talking to the players in (the locker room): We\u2019ve been coaching for a long time. It was the best third period performance from any team I\u2019ve ever coached ever. To put up 20 shots in the third period, it\u2019d be like running from here to Vail holding 100 pounds in front of you, not on your back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though Summit outshot Castle View, Fromin\u2019s standout effort and the Tigers\u2019 lack of skaters made a victory hard to come by. That said, the game started off positively for Summit as defender Zach Carleton scored to give Summit a lead in the first period. After Castle View took a lead later in the period, the Tigers responded with a goal from Davis Emery to knot it up at 2-2 heading into the second period.<\/p>\n

\u201cZach is really, he\u2019s key to our defense because he makes great defensive plays,\u201d Otsuka said. \u201cHis intuition is awesome. He has the ability when things get hairy behind the net, he slows time down and finds the seam to throw a pass or skating out, it allows everyone else on the team to play their position more focused on their role than the defense bringing the puck out. And the same with Nick Davis. He\u2019s a senior. He was put in an impossible position and performed.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the second period, Castle View made the most of its opportunities, scoring twice to take a 4-2 lead into the third period. In the final period, despite Summit\u2019s scrappy play, the Sabercats converted a wild, one-time, back-hand transition goal past Tigers senior goaltender Jake Mallory to seal the game.<\/p>\n

After the game, Otsuka and the Tigers coaching staff made it a point to tell the players they had nothing to be ashamed of. The coach said no one in the arena Tuesday had any inkling that there was anything left for this squad to give. They put it all out there. The score just didn\u2019t go their way.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe percentages drop as soon as you miss a third line,\u201d Otsuka said. \u201cBut there was no shying away. The players that played, they took on the burden and executed what they needed to do and threw the kitchen sink at the goalie.\u201d<\/p>\n

The coach then put this season\u2019s journey in perspective.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe made an incredible impact in our conference, and I think throughout Colorado high school hockey,\u201d Otsuka said. \u201cHey, Summit\u2019s no longer a rollover team, ragtag bunch of people that enjoy hockey. We are serious about it here. \u2026 The seniors and the upperclassmen, back in August is when we started training for this, and they set the tone, knew what was on the line, and they lit the torch, and now we are here. So we\u2019ve got to set this precedent. They know the amount of work that is necessary to be successful. There\u2019s no more secrets. This is what it takes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n