Skaters gear up for postseason that begins March 7
Several top skaters from the CU Men’s Varsity Hockey team earned the night off, but the Buffs still had no problem defeating the Nebraska Cornhuskers on Friday.
CU out shot Nebraska 59-19 en route to a 9-4 victory.
The team recently qualified for the American Collegiate Hockey Association Division II National Championship Tournament in Fort Collins.
The team took the past week off, and even rested its starting lines during Friday’s match-up to avoid the risk of injury or suspension.
>> American Collegiate Hockey Association Division II CU Men’s Varsity Ice Hockey National Championship Schedule in Fort Collins, Colo. |
Pool D March 7: Wagner vs. Colorado at 4 p.m. March 8: Davenport vs. Colorado at 7 p.m. March 9: Colorado vs. New York University at 6:30 p.m. March 10: Semifinal Game: Winner of Pool D vs. Winner of Pool B at 8:15 a.m. Championship Game at 8:30 p.m.
– Corey Jones
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“It was really a game for the players who don’t get as much playing time to get some time on the ice,” said General Manager Everett Pfeiff.
“I thought we started out really strong tonight, but we kind of fell into a slump towards the latter part of the first period,” Pfeiff said. “We came back and played well in the second period, and we just did not want to do anything stupid in the third period.”
Head coach Jeff Eaton was out of town for the game, leaving Pfeiff to coach with the help of team captain Matt Ridens.
“Nebraska has a pretty new program, so we did not expect much out of them talent-wise. We just did not want our guys to be idle for too long,” said Kris Schoech, the club sports director.
Senior Ben Boggess scored two goals and added three assists before the night was done.
“We just wanted to stay with the basics tonight. We did not want to do anything too fancy, but we did not want to be too lackadaisical either,” Boggess said.
The team will spend the next week and a half preparing for Nationals, which are scheduled to begin on March 7 and conclude with the championship game on March 10.
“The team just wants to make sure that every one is healthy. But I am really glad they played this week, or else they would not have had a game in over two weeks going into the tournament,” Schoech said.
CU concluded the regular season with a record of 23-6-4. The team traveled to Logan, Utah last weekend to compete in the ACHA Regional Tournament. The Buffs defeated both Brigham Young University and Utah State to advance to Nationals.
“We have a really close nit group, and I think that is the reason for all of our success,” Boggess said. “Every team in this tournament has a shot at winning the championship. There will be 16 teams, and we are all willing to do whatever it takes to win all five games.”
Contact Campus Press Staff Writer Corey Jones at corey.jones@thecampuspress.com