Buffs Close Out Regular Season with a Win, Head to Regionals

By Ron Knabenbauer

CU Hockey Media Relations

Greeley--The No. 3 University of Colorado Hockey team snapped a three game losing streak Saturday night as they beat the No. 5 Northern Colorado Bears 3-1, in the season finale at the Greeley Ice Haus.

CU won the season series against UNC, going 3-0-1 against the Bears. The tie came from when the two teams skated to a score of 3-3 in the Western Classic Tournament on Dec. 5.

It didnGÇÖt take long for the Buffs (21-13-1) to get on the board, just 6:52 into the game.

Senior Kevin Alpert received a great pass from junior Sean Carpenter in front of Northern Colorado goaltender Brady Litherland, and fired home a one-timer into the wide open net.

Colorado would add another with 2:41 remaining in the second from a power play goal by junior Scott Tittle. Tittle carried the puck all the way from the CU zone, beating the UNC defenders in the neutral zone, and went backhand-to-forehand-to-backhand, beating Litherland 5-hole to give CU the 2-0 lead.

Sophomore Scott Cooley and Carpenter were credited with assists on the goal.

The power play goal by Tittle was the BuffaloesGÇÖ first in the last 20 times with a man advantage. The BuffsGÇÖ last power play goal came from Andrew Neitenbach with 8:49 left in the second period on Feb. 5 vs. Colorado State at the Budweiser Events Center in Loveland.

CU finished one-for-two on the power play while UNC couldnGÇÖt find a way to get past the BuffsGÇÖ tremendous penalty kill, finishing 0-for-5 with the man advantage.

Northern Colorado (17-7-5) would cut the lead in half after a goal at 14:22 in the third by Ryan Meyer, but CU would answer back 50 seconds later, as sophomore A.J. Koller put the puck top-shelf past LitherlandGÇÖs left shoulder to put the icing on the cake for the Buffs.

Junior Max Myers assisted Koller on his goal, making it his 34^th assist and 52^nd point of the season. MyersGÇÖ 52 points makes him finish as the teamGÇÖs leading scorer, second behind sophomore Conor Williams with 48 points (29 goals, 19 assists).

After being tied in shots with eight after the first period, the Bears outshot the Buffs the next two periods to finish with 32 shots, while CU finished with 21 shots.

Both Colorado goaltenders saw action, as head coach Ken Fikis wanted both goalies to be on the top of their game heading into Regionals next weekend.

Sophomore Kevin Litinsky played in-between the pipes for the first 31:19 minutes, while freshman Sam Zarat played the other 28:41.

Both played great, making great saves and playing shutout hockey for most of the game.

Litherland on the other hand, had some struggles, but made some amazing saves, including a few on breakaways and two-on-ones by the Buffs. Without LitherlandGÇÖs strong performance, the game could have easily been 7-1 or 8-1.

The Buffs will now begin the ACHA playoffs starting with the West Regionals on Friday Feb. 27 in Logan, Utah.

Colorado will be the top seed at Regionals and will take on the No. 10 San Diego State Aztecs (21-10-1) in the first round. If CU wins, more than likely they will face No. 6 Utah State or No. 7 Denver.

The two winners of the two day tournament will then join No. 1 Colorado State and No. 2 Weber State as representatives of the West at the ACHA National Tournament, March 17-22 in Grand Rapids, Mich.

Stay tuned to www.cubuffshockey.org to get the latest on how the CU Hockey team is doing in post season play.

For complete stats of the Northern Colorado game go to: http://www.achahockey.org/game_details.php?game_id=276714&schedule_id=19485

Three Stars

1. Scott Tittle (CU) ? Game winning goal

2. Sean Carpenter (CU) ? Two assists

3. Kevin Litinsky/Sam Zarat (CU) ? 31 saves

Regional First Round Matchups

No. 3 Colorado vs. No. 10 San Diego State

No. 4 Eastern Washington vs. No. 9 UNLV

No. 5 Northern Colorado vs. No. 8 San Jose State

No. 6 Utah State vs. No. 7 Denver

Scheduled Times for Games (All times are Mountain Standard):