BOULDER — The Division I club men’s ice hockey team held their first home contest of the second semester Friday night, hosting the No. 24 Oklahoma Sooners.
After a strong start to the second half of the season, the black gold found themselves ranked No. 23 in the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) making for a high-stakes game in Boulder as both teams are currently on the outside looking in at a bid to nationals in March.
The Buffs jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first eight minutes of the game, resulting in Oklahoma’s stalwart goaltender Brendan Culberson-Bond being pulled. Culberson-Bond has been the workhorse for the Sooners playing in 21 of 22 games this season.
While the Sooners goalie has posted very solid numbers including 10 wins on the season, it brings to question just how valuable the tandem of Matt Server and Liam O’Gwen is for the Buffaloes this season, a trend that has become quite popular in the National Hockey League over the last handful of years.
“We have a dynamic duo in net, like we see in the NHL all the time now. We’re very fortunate to have this tandem in net,” assistant coach Sam Thrutchley said. “These guys are our horses, night in, night out they’re the reasons that we get a lot of these wins.”
On Friday, it was Server, a transfer from Oregon, getting the start and he picked up his fourth win of the season in a 4-0 shutout victory, his second time blanking the Sooners this season. Server posts a strong save percentage at .925 and a goals-against average just above three.
The other half of the Buffaloes two-headed monster, O’Gwen, has also been a major component to the success the No. 23 team has had. With a 5-3-1 record and a save percentage just under .900, the junior goaltender has been a rock on the backend that Colorado can lean on when needed.
With two strong goalies, it is not only a confidence booster each and every night for the team in front of them, but also a competition between the teammates that pushes for the best from one another.
“As goalies, there’s only one spot, so of course we push each other,” Server continued on about his relationship with O’Gwen. “But off the ice, we’re really close and work really well together. So I think we have a really healthy relationship and a really good competition.”
As the push for nationals continues, the Buffaloes will need to continue to see this great play from their goaltending tandem. And there isn’t any doubt that the stellar play between the pipes will continue.
“90% of these wins, they’re on [our goalies] shoulders,” Thrutchley said. “We’re definitely not in the top 30 without either of these guys.”
The season is heating up as it starts to near the end, you can keep up with all the action on the Sko Buffs Sports YouTube channel.
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