FORT COLLINS – The Division I Colorado men’s hockey team was on the brink of the ACHA Nationals tournament last week. Needing to jump three teams was going to be tough, but winning both contests against rival Colorado State would have boosted their chances.
The first game of the doubleheader was moved from Saturday to Thursday after the logistics with a neutral site game in Loveland fell through. So the Rams played at home at the Edora Pool Ice Center (EPIC) for their senior night.
The Rams came into the weekend ranked at No. 30 in the country, the Buffs were ranked at No. 25. This would be a very competitive match for the Buffaloes with their season on the line in enemy territory.
Early in the first, it was Colorado who had the momentum. They capitalized early after George Issa found Jacob Rosolanko, a freshman from New Jersey, in the slot with a wide-open net, catching CSU goalie Sam Simon out of position. Rosolanko buried the puck into the yawning cage for his first goal in the black and gold.
The first period was relatively clean with no penalties taken until about five minutes to play when Colorado State’s Tony Ojala took a roughing penalty. Ojala was one of five CSU seniors playing in that game. As the Buffs went to the power play against a stout Rams penalty kill, Noah Decker took advantage of a breakaway and beat CU goaltender Liam O’Gwen for a shorthanded goal and more importantly, a tie score at 1-1.
In the dying seconds of the first, a skirmish broke out in front of the CU net that started what would be a trend throughout the night, after the whistle penalties. Since the ACHA has a strict policy against fighting, any shoves or pushes bring the tension up in the arena knowing that penalties will most likely be assessed. Luke Gosnell was assessed a game misconduct, which saw him miss the next ten minutes of play for the Buffaloes.
The Rams would start the second period with a powerplay and the Buffs shut the door. Shortly after killing the penalty, the Buffs would take the lead for the second time after Jesse Kittay shot one on Simon, and Max Pasiennik grabbed the puck and buried it for his 12th goal of the season.
The penalties would start to pile up after this. After CU took a too many men penalty, Captain Marc Borghi was called for cross-checking just ten seconds later, leading a 5-on-3 session that would last for almost two full minutes. The Buffs held strong and killed it off and play continued as normal.
A few minutes after the kill, the Rams would be stopped on a breakaway and after the whistle, CSU’s Justin Vickers took exception to something a CU player must have done, because he shoved a Buffalo to the ice and Borghi shoved him back to defend his teammates. Vickers was sent to the box and Borghi was lucky enough to escape the situation without two minutes.
Colorado failed to score on the powerplay and at the tail end, took a tripping call to put CSU back on the powerplay. A few seconds later, another skirmish broke out near the Buffalo net which saw CU’s Issa take two roughing penalties, while Vickers retaliated in a different portion of the fight in his confrontation with CU’s Blake Blevins. He elbowed him and was sent to the box. But since Issa was charged with two penalties, CSU would still go to a 5-on-3 for another prolonged period.
After solid defense came through on the penalty kill before CU could catch their breath, Rams forward Connor Pietrangelo shot one on O’Gwen and he flashed the leather for one of the best saves of the season from a CU goaltender.
After killing a second 5-on-3, the Buffs took yet another penalty putting CSU back on the powerplay. This time Decker was able to find a shooting lane and pinpointed the shot into the top left corner which beat O’Gwen to tie this contest at two a piece.
With momentum stripped away by the Rams, the Buffaloes had to regroup and strike back, which is exactly what they did. After stopping a rush from Colorado State, Marcinkevicius started a rush for CU the other. He found a trailing Blake Blevins in the slot who fired a shot on goal. Simon made the stop but Rosolanko was there to scoop up the rebound and bury it past Simon to give the Buffs a 3-2 lead going into intermission.
At the start of the third, a major penalty against the CSU goaltender, Simon was placed on the board. The entire arena was in a state of confusion that a penalty of such nature would be placed upon a goaltender in addition to the fact that backup goalie Kaleb Bartholomew was in the net. But Simon had speared CU’s goalie, O’Gwen, at center ice after the second period and got himself tossed from the game.
So with a cold goaltender and a five-minute powerplay, the Buffs went to work. Adam Trunko was the first to beat Bartholomew as he squeaked a shot threw his legs in the first half of the man advantage. Pasiennik would tack on another goal on the powerplay to give Colorado a 5-2 lead early in the third. CSU looked defeated for the rest of the game with their slower play and lack of discipline.
About halfway through the final frame, Colorado took advantage of a poor Colorado State line change and O’Gwen found Borghi who tapped it to Drew McConaughy who sniped a wrister top left corner past Bartholomew for a 6-2 Buffs lead.
With the game all but over, the Buffs would add a seventh goal from Blevins in the final twenty seconds to reach the final score of 7-2. A statement road win for the team as it was their first win at the EPIC center since December 3, 2021.
The Buffs now turned to Friday at home, which would decide their fate regarding Nationals. Win and in if things go their way. Lose and go home. This win for Colorado had set the stage for an exciting Friday night matchup at the Rec Center.
All Colorado club hockey games are broadcast live on the Sko Buffs Sports YouTube channel.
Cover photo by Tyler Phillips/Sko Buffs Sports
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