Mountain Vista, Ralston Valley top seeds in hockey’s state bracket
Hockey’s state tournament bracket is out. Mountain Vista and Ralston Valley are the top seeds in each conference.
Other top seeds include Regis Jesuit, Air Academy, Dakota Ridge and Doherty. See the full bracket here.
Mountain Vista won the Peak Conference by virtue of going 12-1-0 in conference games. Air Academy was second in the Peak at 11-2-0, while Doherty was third at 9-3-1.
Ralston Valley and Regis Jesuit tied atop the Foothills Conference with 27 points each, but Ralston took the top seed on the fourth tie-breaker. The two teams tied in their lone head-to-head matchup on Feb. 14, and they also had an equal amount of wins against conference opponents, as well as an identical record.
That left it to goals allowed in conference games. Ralston Valley allowed fewer (11) than Regis (18), so the Mustangs are the top seed out of the Foothills. Had the two teams also been tied in that category, they would have gone to a coin-flip.
Ralston Valley is the two-time defending champion.
Regis grabs the two seed, while Dakota Ridge is the three seed after breaking a three-way tie with Monarch and Cherry Creek. Monarch is the No. 4 seed, Cherry Creek is No. 5.
Games begin on Friday, with the second round on Saturday. The semifinals are March 5 at the Budweiser Events Center in Loveland. The championship game is March 7 at 2 p.m., also at Budweiser Events.
