COLORADO BUFFALOES (10-8-2) VS. OKLAHOMA SOONERS (12-9-0)
7 PM MT | CU REC CENTER ICE RINK | SKO BUFFS SPORTS
The No. 23-ranked Colorado Buffaloes are coming off an incredible Friday night performance in their matchup versus the No. 24-ranked Oklahoma Sooners.
Shutting out the Sooners 4-0 and forcing a goaltender change just ten minutes into the game, the Buffs had a dominant lock on the game for nearly the whole 60 minutes, as they took Game 1 of this weekend split at home.
The game was delayed due to miscommunication with the officiating crew, starting at 8 pm MT, an hour after the scheduled puck drop.
LATEST RESULTS:
January 26, 2024, COL: 4 OKL: 0
January 26, 2024, OKL: 0 COL: 4
FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS:
Yesterday evening, the No. 24 Oklahoma Sooners came to town for a matchup where both teams had identical conference records (4-1-7-2), and are currently both just on the outside of the race for nationals. Tied at sixth in the WCHL (with Colorado State and Grand Canyon), Friday’s game was of utmost importance to both teams as they look to propel themselves ahead in the standings as they enter the final month of ACHA regular season play.
Early on, the Buffs chased Oklahoma starting goaltender Brenden Culbertson-Bond out of the game after scoring three goals in just eight minutes. Jesse Kittay scored on a long wrister in the slot to give the Buffs a one-goal lead just 1:14 into the game. From there, a flurry of offense resulted in creative goals from Brodie Pearson at 6:53 and Blake Blevins at 8:09.
Culbertson-Bond was then replaced by backup Trey Attanasio (1-1-0), who played the remainder of the game for the Sooners, proving to be exceptionally solid in relief stopping 22 of 23 shots. Periods two and the first half of three were slower-paced but not without energy. As the final ten minutes approached, the intensity of the game picked back up with both squads throwing massive hits and playing strongly on both sides of the puck.
The night was for naught for the Sooners however, as at 9:26 of the third period, Drew McConaughy on a 2-on-1 with Pearson blew a lightning-quick wrist shot past Attanasio for Colorado’s fourth goal of the game, and the first goal for either team in nearly 42 minutes of play. The final minutes ran out and Matthew Server and the Colorado Buffaloes secured their second shutout over the Sooners this season (prev. 2-0, Oct. 13, 2023).
BUFFS STATS:
Top-three scorers on the year Pearson (10-8–18) and McConaughy (7-10–17) both added to their point totals scoring a goal each last night, while Colorado’s leading point scorer, Max Pasiennik (4-15—19) was the primary assist on McConaughy’s goal. The top-five for Colorado is rounded out by Adam Trunko (6-11–17) and Douglas Wood (9-6–15), with the former receiving the secondary assist on the first goal of the night.
Matt Server started in net for the Buffs, stopping all 33 shots faced to earn his second shutout of the season. Server looked strong, and at times bailed the Buffs out on several frantic plays by Oklahoma — a number of which were very close to going in. On Saturday night, goaltender Liam O’Gwen is expected to get the start as the Buffs have been very comfortable rotating the two, though with his play from the night prior it wouldn’t be a shock if Server were to start again. O’Gwen has played in 10 games this season for the Buffs, going 5-3-1 with a GAA of 4.06 and a 0.898 SV%. His numbers don’t entirely translate to on-ice performance as O’Gwen has been caught in a number of high-scoring games (L 8-2 vs. UCO - Oct. 21, W 7-6 OT vs. MSSU - Nov. 18, L 7-4 @ MSSU - Jan. 20)
THE NUMBERS:
Four goals were scored last night, but eleven individual skaters got on the board for the black and gold. Jacob Rosolanko (0-1–1) received his first point of the season, while Captain Marc Borghi (13), Rapolas Marcinkevicius (13), Fred Ferro (4), and Jack Ferguson (6) all upped their respective point totals.
SPECIAL TEAMS:
Entering tonight, Colorado now ranks 50th out of 72 on the power play, scoring on 18.4% of their opportunities. Oklahoma sits at 59th, with a 16.7% success rate. The Buffs successfully killed off all five Sooner power plays last night, bumping their PK% up four places to 73.6% — good for 47th. Oklahoma killed off their own three penalties, bettering to 79.3% on the kill, but dropping one place to 31st.
DANGLE, SNIPE, AND STAMPEDE:
A reminder to check out the rest of what Dangle, Snipe, and Stampede has to offer, with weekly episodes from Alex Roberts, Jared Miller, and, usually, Aidan Glockner! The podcast includes discussion on all three Colorado teams, as well as general ACHA news, and other various updates from around the hockey world.
Check it out here!
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