The University of Colorado hockey team beat the Eastern Washington Eagles 6-4, in a game that had more back-and-forth play than ping-pong.

It didn't take long for Colorado (8-4-0) to get the puck past Eastern Washington (8-3-0) goaltender Trevor Drapor, as junior Andrew Neitenbach received a pass from senior Kevin Alpert and fired it in the back of the net in the first 55 seconds of the game.

CU junior Max Myers would add an unassisted goal one minute and forty-four seconds later to give the Buffs the two goal lead.

Eastern Washington would get their own chances in the period, but they couldn't find a way to put the puck past sophomore goaltender Kevin Litinsky, as Colorado would take the 2-0 lead into the locker room.

The second period began the same as the first, with CU scoring 1:16 into the period on an Erich Seufert goal. Myers would add an assist on the goal and currently leads the team in points with 24.

It looked liked the Buffs had taken all the momentum, until they began to head to the penalty box after taking some undisciplined penalties.

Eastern Washington right winger Cam Sargent got the Eagles on the board with a power play goal at 12:53, and then 92 seconds later, Josh Pickens would add another for the EWU on his power play goal to cut the CU lead to one.

However, the Eagles would follow the Buffs to the box as they would take undisciplined penalties as well.

The Buffs took full advantage on the power play with Jeffrey Palmer and Neitenbach both scoring to give CU the 5-2 lead after 40 minutes of play. For the Alaskan native Palmer, it was his first goal of the season.

At 1:58 left in the second period, Eastern Washington swapped goaltenders as Brent Seidel came in after getting the win the night before against Colorado State.

The back-and-forth play would continue in the third period, with both goalies making huge saves and getting some luck by the posts.

Eastern Washington would finally break through at 13:07 with team leading scorer Mike Truex, giving the Eagles new life and bringing the game back into reach.

Then at 5:04, Cam Sargent received an unsportsmanlike penalty for Eastern Washington, giving CU the chance to put the game away. The Buffs would, as Nick Hartnett scored the team's third power play goal of the night moments later.

Eastern Washington would add another goal in the final minutes of play, but the Buffs played superb defense and held on to get their eighth win of the season.

Litinsky had a busy night in net for CU, stopping 37 of 41 shots by the Eagles, while the Buffs pounded both Eastern Washington goalies with 47 shot in the game.

CU sophomore Conor Williams did not play after leaving Friday night's game against Denver with an injured left knee, but is likely to play next weekend.

Colorado head coach Ken Fikis said he will see how Williams does during practice in the week before making a decision on Lafayette native.

Next up for the Buffaloes will be rival Colorado State next weekend for the games 1 and 2 of the 2008-09 Rocky Mountain Shootout. CU will host the Rams on Friday at 8:00 P.M. at the Student Recreation Center, before heading to EPIC Ice Arena on Saturday, to take on their heated rivals for game 2 in Fort Collins.

Admission to the game is free for students and only $5 for the general public.

Scoring
1 st Period
19:05 CU Andrew Neitenbach - Kevin Alpert
17:21 CU Max Myers - unassisted

2 nd Period

18:44 CU Erich Seufert - Max Myers
12:13 EWU Cam Sargent (PP) - unassisted
10:51 EWU Josh Pickens (PP) - unassisted
10:19 CU Jeffrey Palmer (PP) - Kevin Alpert
5:23 CU Andrew Neitenbach (PP) - Josh Loomis

3 rd Period

13:07 EWU Mike Truex - Alex Arnold, Kris Boyce
4:43 CU Nick Hartnett (PP) - Andrew Neitenbach, Kevin Alpert
4:07 EWU Mike Jenson - Ryan Schank, Jeff Umemoto