Co-hosted by CU and CSU, the 2007 Western Classic Hockey Tournament wrapped up over the weekend and consisted of the eight best teams (based on standings) from the American Collegiate Hockey Association's (ACHA) West Region. The tournament was played in a round robin style, with CU playing all three teams within its pool at least once.

On Sunday, CU's club hockey team took third place in the tournament by defeating San Jose State 4-2.

Following is a brief recap of each of CU's four tournament matches:

CU vs. Utah Valley State @ CU Rec Center

Utah Valley State arrived at the CU Ice Arena in a much different emotional state than when it last battled Colorado to a 3-3 tie on Nov. 3rd. The Wolverines have been carrying heavy hearts ever since their assistant coach, Ken Dolzsar, was shot and killed at a Salt Lake City restaurant, early in the morning on Nov. 15. The death of Dolzsar was a shock for a team that had finally reached first place in the West Region days earlier.

On Thursday, Colorado jumped on Utah Valley State early in the first period, with goals coming from Jeff Neitenbach and Max Myers. Colorado defenseman Brad Edelberg scored two third period goals to help the Buffalos dump Utah Valley State, 6-2.

"I was skating down, I had some guys hanging on me and decided I would put in the net, and sniped the goalie top-shelf," said Edelberg about his first .

CU vs. Arizona State

@ CU Rec Center

Colorado smashed the Arizona State Sun Devils on Friday, beating them 9-3. Senior David Ludwig had a big night lead the charging Buffs with two goals and one assist.

After the Buff's scored the games' first six goals, Sun Devils' coach Murray Kuzek took out goaltender Herb Hollins in favor of Cameron Tang. The change at goal did little to help the Sun Devils, as CU cruised into the third period, up 7-0.

CU's defense loosened up in the third period, allowing Arizona State to score three goals. The last goal scored by Arizona State's Matt Rice, didn't seem to be damaging at the time with the Buff's leading by six, but it would come back to haunt them later in the tournament.

CU vs. Eastern Washington @ CU Rec Center

The winner between Eastern Washington and CU on Saturday would go on to play the winner of the north pool in the championship game at EPIC Ice Arena in Ft. Collins, on Sunday.

The Eagles of Eastern Washington took advantage of a sluggish Golden Buffalo team on Saturday, scoring two first period goals and adding a third in the second period.

CU's first goal came when Kevin Alperts scored with 3:20 left on the clock to get CU within two goals of the lead. Alpert's goal seemed to jumpstart the Colorado bench and got the fans back in the game.

With one minute remaining, Scott Tittle added another CU goal, narrowing the Eagles lead, 3-2. 29 seconds later and with only 31 seconds left in regulation, Tittle knotted the score at 3-3. Jeff Neitenbach had assists in all three goals for Colorado.

"My goals were direct examples of guys working hard, and making plays. I just happened to be the guy who had the puck at the end," said Tittle, after scoring two heroic goals to tie the game at 3-3.

CU's Andrew Neitenbach scored as time expired in the overtime period, but the goal came too late and was waved off by the refs. The game ended tied, 3-3.

Eastern Washington won the tie break because it had fewer goals against (7), than CU (8), in the tournament.

Eastern Washington went on to win against CSU 5 to 4 in a shootout on Sunday.

"As nice as it would be to go to the championship game of the (Western Classic), in the grand scheme of things, the overall rankings, going to nationals, and being the number one seed in the west at the end of the year, are far more important," said CU Head Coach Paul Sisson. "We're still on track with that, and to not go to the championship game in this tournament isn't a huge deal."

CU vs. San Jose State

@ CU Rec Center

Earlier in the season, CU trounced San Jose State 8-0, in a game in which Jeff Neitenbach finished with five assists. On Sunday, the Buffs continued their dominance against the Spartans winning in a tight match, 4-2.

It didn't take long for Colorado to get on the board, as freshman Conor Williams found the back of the net two-minutes and twenty seconds into the game. Captain Steve Stichler of San Jose State would tie the game later in the first period. He fired a rebounded puck top shelf past CU goaltender Kevin Litinsky.

The Buffs took the lead in the second period and started to pull away. They scored two goals, one from the stick of Captain P.J. Bevan and the other coming from Sean Carpenter to give CU the lead 3-1.

Summary

After this weekend, the CU men's hockey improved their record to 16-1-3 and is currently first in the ACHA West Standings with 35 points. They are four points ahead of #2 Utah Valley. The Buffs have one more game this semester before taking over a month off for winter break. They will play against Metro State next Saturday at 7 pm. The schedule won't resume until Jan, 11 when the Buffs play Oregon at 7:30 pm, at the CU Ice Arena.