The Colorado Buffaloes have reached the half way point of their season and are sporting an overall record of 11-8-0 in preparation for 2008 Western Classic Tournament co-hosted by CU and Colorado State from Dec. 4-7.

The past few weeks have been pretty rough for the Buffaloes beginning with an 8-3 loss to the rival Rams at home on Nov. 7.

Colorado would compete hard the next night against CSU, but would lose 3-2 when Ben Smoot of the Rams scored with 27 seconds left in regulation.

The game was dominated by Colorado State but Colorado kept the score 0-0 after two periods.

CSU would score two in the third to take a commanding 2-0 lead, but CU goals from Nick Hartnett and Conor Williams helped tie the game at two.

Though CU lost the game, the score could have been a lot worse if it wasn't for the play of freshman goaltender Sam Zarat, who kept the Buffs in the game stopping 57 of the 60 shots he faced.

The next weekend CU headed to the land of cactus as they traveled to Arizona to take on Division I foes the Arizona State Sun Devils and the Arizona Icecats.

Colorado would lose the first night to the Sun Devils but would come back the next night and beat the Icecats 6-5 on Nov. 14.

Williams finished with a hat trick and Andrew Neitenbach finished with one goal and two assists in that game.

The next night, CU faced another tough challenge against the Icecats as they played a hard battled game that resulted in a 2-2 tie after regulation

After a 5 minute overtime period, the game was forced into a shootout, where Colorado would take the 3-2 victory thanks to Hartnett beating U of A goalie Nick Boddy.

Last weekend, the Buffs headed down to the Joy Burn Ice Arena at the University of Denver, where they were looking to get another "W" from the in-state Pioneers.

CU took a 2-0 lead early in the first period, but unfortunately DU came to play, and scored six of the next seven goals as they beat the Buffaloes, 6-3.

The Buffs did rebound on Saturday night, as they beat the Missouri State white team, 3-1.

Neitenbach finished with one goal and one assist on the night to go along with his two points the night before at DU.

Though the season hasn't gone the way Colorado was hoping, they are still in good position to make the National Tournament and compete for the Championship.

The next game will be Thursday Dec. 4 as CU takes on Big 12 foe Texas Tech in game 1 of the Western Classic Tournament starting at 8:30 P.M.

All home games take place at the CU Ice Arena inside the Student Recreation Center on campus and are free for students and only $5 for the general public.

Can't make it to Boulder to catch the action, then listen to every home game live on the Colorado Hockey Radio Network presented by Audio Sports Online. Just go to http://www.audiosportsonline.net/Colorado/Hockey2008.htmfive minutes before game time to catch all the hard hitting CU hockey action.

Remaining games for first semester
Thur. Dec. 4 - Texas Tech 8:30 PM (Western Classic)
Fri. Dec. 5 - Northern Colorado 8:30 PM (Western Classic)
Sat. Dec. 6 - Eastern Washington 7:15 PM (Western Classic)
Sun. Dec. 7 - Championship/Consolation game TBA (Western Classic)
Fri. Dec. 12 - Metro State 7:30 PM
(All games are at home at the CU Ice Arena inside the Student Recreation Center on campus, except for championship game which will be held at the EPIC Ice Arena in Ft Collins)