HIGHLANDS RANCH >> Ahead of his team’s quarterfinals game on Wednesday night, Monarch goalie Joshua Ringoen stood facing a wall inside the locker room at South Suburban Sports Complex and bounced a small, oddly shaped rubber ball to himself. Over, and over again.

The six-nubbed design allows for unpredictable movement, forcing Ringoen to react and adapt. The senior netminder said it sharpens his skills — and then he proved as much a little while later, stopping 25 shots in the No. 2 Coyotes’ 2-1 win over Denver East.

“The focus coming in was just to make sure I was dialed-in,” Ringoen said with a win after sending his team to the 5A semifinals for a second straight year. “Same prep for next game.”

The Coyotes will face Valor Christian in the Colorado’s high school version of the Frozen Four on Saturday. Puck-drop is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at Colorado College’s Ed Robson Arena.

Monarch beat the Eagles twice this season by identical scores of 3-2. Ringoen was in net for both.

“If we want to beat Valor, we’re going to have to get more pucks to the net than we did tonight,” said coach Jimmy Dexter, whose team was outshot 26-18 in its third win of the season over the Angels. “Tonight, Josh won the game for us.”

Even with one of their lowest shot outputs of the season, the Coyotes got goals from David Marcus and Jake Oullahan in the second period. And that was enough for Ringoen, who allowed his first goal of the night early in the third before he sealed things with nine saves in the final period.

Ringoen, splitting time in net with Benjamin Zelio this winter, has stopped 93% of the 348 shots he’s faced. Zelio has been similarly good, turning aside more than 92% of 233 shots.

“Again, our goaltending has been amazing all year,” Dexter said. “We had a tough time (choosing) him or Ben tonight. We were debating.”

Not a bad problem to have.

If Monarch goes back to Ringoen in the semifinals — which it’d be hard not to after his stellar performance in the quarterfinals — they can do so with plenty of confidence. The senior made 39 saves in the December win over the Eagles, then frustrated them again with 30 stops in their January meeting.

But Valor Christian might be playing its best hockey of the season right now. The longtime power on the ice beat No. 5 Regis Jesuit by three goals to end the regular season. Then as the 3 seed in 5A, they beat No. 6 Heritage, 6-2, in the earlier game at South Suburban Sports Complex. Andrew Jenkins had a hat trick in the win, while Elijah Fischer tallied a goal and three assists.

Oullahan’s decisive goal for Monarch a couple hours later, meanwhile, was his team-leading ninth of the season. Marcus’ from minutes before was his first of the winter.