CENTENNIAL — John Schubert had to laugh when fans for the Ralston Valley ice hockey team started getting on him as he warmed up midway through the second period of Friday night's showdown between the Mustangs and top-ranked Regis Jesuit at the Family Sports Center.

While one of Schubert's teammates slipped a puck past him during his short warm-up period, much to the delight of the Ralston Valley faithful, he knew it wouldn't affect how he played once the action started again.

Schubert was on the top of his game, making nine saves in 31 minutes of action to help the Raiders come from behind and forge a 4-4 tie with the second- ranked Mustangs in a key Foothills League battle.

"I either come ready or not ready, and most of the time I come ready to play," said Schubert, a senior goalie who has given up only two goals while making 43 saves this season.

"One goal, two goals or 10 goals, in warm-ups or in a game, will not change the way I play. I will play the same after letting in a goal, sometimes even better."

Schubert was called into action after starting goalie Nick Cunningham surrendered four goals on eight shots during the first 21 minutes of play.

Regis (11-0-1 overall, 4-0-1 league), the defending state champion, trailed 4-3 at that point and couldn't afford to fall further behind a Ralston Valley squad that never trailed and scored only 38 seconds into the contest.

Shortly after the opening faceoff, Marshall Hoover took control of the puck in his own end and sent a perfect pass to the tape of a streaking Graham Smith, who deposited it in the Raiders net for a 1-0 lead.

Ralston Valley (11-1-1, 5-0-1) took a 3-1 lead when Nick Graf scored a short-handed goal with less than a minute left in the first period.

But Regis immediately answered to regain some momentum, with Justin Johnston scoring a power-play goal with nine seconds remaining before the first intermission.

The Mustangs missed a golden opportunity to increase their lead early in the second period when Hoover sent a penalty shot wide of the net, and Regis evened things on Evan Lloyd's short-handed goal later in the period.

After Ralston Valley went back up on Chase Newman's short-handed goal, prompting Schubert's call into action, Johnston scored the equalizer for the Raiders early in the third period.

Both teams had chances in overtime, including power-play opportunities, but neither club could get the puck in the net. Goalie Adam Lucas finished with 31 saves for the Mustangs.

"We thought there was a high probability that this would end in a tie," Ralston Valley coach Jon McKibbon said.

"These two teams match up really well."

Ralston Valley3 1 0 0 - 4

Regis Jesuit2 1 1 0 - 4

First period - 1, RV, Graham Smith (Marshall Hoover), 0:38; 2, RJ, Connor Hayes (Ian Rawley), 3:32; 3, RV, Ryan Marcovich (Smith, Chase Newman), 8:57; 4, RV, Nick Graf (Newman), sh, 14:21; 5, RJ, Justin Johnson (Hayes), pp, 14:51. Penalties - Graff, RV (slashing), 5:56; Austin Miller, R (slashing), 7:59; Mohr, R (slashing), 9:20; Mitchell Pijanowski, RV (interference), 13:12.

Second period - 1, RJ, Evan Lloyd (Andrew Fioretto), sh, 5:12; 2, RV, Newman, sh, 6:52. Penalties - Tom Branson, R (slashing) 3:02; Kyle Bennett, RV (slashing), 3:08; Thomas Stack, R (high-sticking), 4:40; Jake Spinder, RV (abuse of officials misconduct, 10 minutes), 5:37; Marcovich, RV (tripping), 6:19; Zeke Yslas, R (roughing), 10:09; Graf, RV (boarding), 10:59; Thomas Greene, RV (high-sticking), 14:43.

Third period - 1, RJ, Johnston (Hayes), pp, 1:20. Penalties - Ian Rawley, R (roughing), 1:49; Hoover, RV (slashing), 1:49; Nick Davis, R (unsportsmanlike), 5:27; Spinder, RV (hooking) 5:27; Tanner Ottenbreit, R (tripping), 5:44; Graf, RV, (slashing), 7:13; Newman, RV (slashing) 14:52.

Overtime - None. Penalties - Ottenbreit, RJ (slashing) 0:40; Ottenbreit, RJ (interference), 3:41; Newman, RV (hooking), 4:51.

Shots on goal - RV 4 5 8 0 - 17; RJ 9 15 10 1 - 35. Saves - RV (Adam Lucas) 7-14-9-1 - 31; RJ (Nick Cunningham 4, John Schubert 9) 1-4-8-0 - 13.