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Still undefeated, Buffs tie for number one
Contributed by: Ron Knabenbauer on 11/8/2007

By Ron Knabenbauer & Bridget Priolo

After returning from a successful trip in San Jose, the Buffs (now 11-0-1) were confident that they could remain undefeated throughout the entire season. Their sweep in the "Best of the West Showcase" proved that they could be unstoppable and would bring the same California heat that stretched their 11 game winning streak to their home ice here in Colorado.

However, the undefeated Utah Valley Wolverines (who tie CU for the number one spot in the west division standings), played the Buffs on Saturday and were equally determined to hold on to their title as well.

The result: a thrilling 3-3 tie that left both players and fans on thin ice all night.

The first ten minutes, and the first period in general, showed how badly both CU and Utah Valley wanted to win and how evenly their efforts matched with a puck tug-a-war on the ice.

However, that changed when CU's Kevin Alpert pushed harder. He found the back of the net, giving the Buffs the lead with roughly five minutes remaining in the period. Within 26 seconds of Alpert's goal, the Buffaloes wasted no time scoring another, thanks to Max Myers, who appears to be on a roll since his huge weekend in San Jose. (Myers scored the tying, and winning goals against Long Beach State on October 27th).

The excitement continued when Wolverines forward David Wyman demolished the CU lead with less than three minutes to play in the period. As another player that seems to be on fire recently, Wyman entered the CU rink with an average of 3.67 points and 1.67 goals per game, placing him third in the ACHA with 48 points, and making him a competitive match up for the Buffs.

Ready to fight back, the Buffs kept Wyman and fellow Utah Valley star teammate, Chris Glen, contained with Wyman only notching two points throughout the game and Glen, zero (Glen is sixth in the ACHA with 36 points).

Although Utah Valley scored another before the first intermission, CU's efforts to hold Utah Valley back proved to be quite effective-especially when CU forward, Conor Williams made a beautiful five-hole goal that gave the Buffs a 3-2 lead after one period of play.

Unfortunately, Colorado captain P.J. Bevan was injured in the first period and left with possibly a broken finger; he did not return to play for the rest of the game. His status for this weekend versus CSU is still up in the air, but the team is hopeful that he will play in the series. With P.J. out, the leadership responsibility was rested on the shoulders of Assistant Captain, Chad Wetzel, who kept the team together.

"When people see that your captain goes out, you've got to calm everyone down, regroup everyone, bring them back to square one, and say: Hey, it is what it is, he's not going to play; we have good defenseman, let's rally behind them and win this game," Wetzel stated after the game.

It is quite possible that Bevan's injury played a factor with the team's moral and affected their defense and control of the puck.

In the second period, Utah Valley forward Zeph Fagergren scored right out of the gate to tie the game at 3-3.

The next 14 minutes were filled with good scoring chances for both teams, but good defense as well-the puck tug-of-war continued.

However, that changed with 3:50 remaining in the second period. Colorado forward Sean Carpenter got into a scrum with some UV players behind the net. Carpenter received two minutes for roughing, five minutes for kicking and was thrown out of the game for his additional aggressive behavior. Carpenter will miss Friday's game against CSU, and will probably miss more at the discretion of Head Coach Paul Sisson.

No goals were scored in the third period; although Colorado Sophomore Andy Neitenbach came close to bringing the Buffs back in the lead, he hit the post with 4:44 remaining in regulation.

The game thus went into overtime, where no goals were scored and to the disappointment of both teams, the game ended in a tie.

"It wasn't a bad team we played," Sisson, stated after the game, "We need to move on, and take it as a learning lesson." Indeed the team will as they continue to work hard towards their goal of winning the National Championship.

Although the team did not achieve their goal of winning every game of their season, they were everything the Utah Valley and the Colorado coaches expected. They played with drive, force, and momentum, and fought for every play to the last second. By the looks of the Buff's performance this past weekend, (out shooting the Wolverines 48 to 27 and keeping their defense strong) they should have no problem taking on rival CSU on Friday and Saturday, and triumph in the Rocky Mountain Face off.


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CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Ron Knabenbauer

Evergreen , CO

Ron Knabenbauer has posted 30 stories and 0 comments since joining on 8/31/2007. Ron Knabenbauer 's average story rating is 5.
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