Cheyenne Mountain shows off depth in rout of rival Air Academy

The season-opening nonconference match-up between area hockey rivals Cheyenne Mountain and Air Academy soon became a battle of the haves and have-nots.

With a clear advantage in depth, the Indians routed the Kadets 7-1 at Sertich Ice Center.

It was the third of four games at the rink as area hockey, basketball and swim teams opened their seasons all over the state on Monday.

Cheyenne Mountain found the means to score every way possible with two goals by defenseman Bryan Koppa, as well as scoring from the special teams.

"The great thing about this game was that we have depth and we were not relying on just one line," said Indians coach Mike Provenzano. "Our first and second lines both picked up a lot of points tonight and that was a pleasant surprise."

After an early goal by forward Justin King, Koppa put Cheyenne Mountain ahead 2-0 during a power play on a laser shot from the top of the right circle.

"We don't usually have a lot of offense going from our defensive players, so it's nice to be productive and get a couple of goals," Koppa said. "We've put a lot of work on the power play in practice and we really came together on that tonight."

After Cole DeBoer's put back in the second made it 3-0, the Indians put the game away in the third.

Trevor Isbell was active on the ice early with a couple of steals and some good shots at the net, but it wasn't until the third period that his effort started to pay off.

He scored only 55 seconds into the third. He recorded his second goal of the game by knocking in a rebound on a power play midway through the same period.

"The first couple of periods were a little jumpy but it started to settle down for me and then I started to put some in the net," said Isbell. "Both of my goals were pick-up goals and I was trying my best to pick up the garbage from Trent Houghton."

Air Academy (0-1) broke the 4-0 shutout when Carson Chase scored an unassisted goal with 13:02 left in the game.

The Kadets' offense was shorthanded all game long with shoulder injuries to senior forwards Garrett Leon and Sean Norvell. Senior froward Craig Holt is out with a concussion.

"A lot of guys played tonight who probably shouldn't have played so much in their first game in high school," said coach David Meisinger. "They learned a lot and I thought the effort was there. We just had some breakdowns. Cheyenne Mountain is a good team and they will take advantage of their chances."

The 1-0 Indians' depth continued to wear down the Kadets in the last half of the third period. Houghton opened the flood gates with a shorthanded goal off a pass from Jez Murphy.

"We stressed that we wanted to be aggressive on the penalty kill and we wanted to be physical and I think we showed that tonight," Provenzano said.

Koppa collected his second goal of the night for the final margin.

Liberty 3, Pine Creek 1

At Sertich: Ryan Pettis scored off an assist from Ben Krzeczowski with 14:59 left in the second period for the game-winner in the nonconference season opener for the Lancers (1-0).
Xander Hoskins scored a shorthanded goal for a 1-0 lead only 2:20 into the second period for the Eagles (0-1).

Machebeuf 11, Doherty 1

At Sertich: David Ferguson scored an unassisted goal for Doherty (0-1). Machebeuf (1-0) out shot Doherty 41-18, including a 20-3 edge in the first period of the season opener for both teams.

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