Buffs sweep Aztecs in weekend series

Colorado men’s D1 salutes the home crowd after its win against San Diego State. (Photo by Kainoa Hiatt/Sko Buffs).

For the first time in over a year, the Colorado Buffaloes’ (9-16-2) men’s D1 team swept an opponent on home ice. Colorado beat the San Diego State Aztecs (3-19-1) in both games over senior weekend. The Aztecs are the only team that sits beneath the Buffs in the Western Collegiate Hockey League and are tied for the second-worst record in the country.

Colorado took advantage of its opportunity against the struggling Aztecs. In both games, CU set a new season high with seven goals for, beating the original record of five. The win on Friday was also the first game that the Buffs had won since Dec. 6, a much-needed team pick-me-up.

“We’re feeling really good. We’re feeling confident,” Colorado head coach Peter Cardasis said. “We’ve worked really hard in practice.”

Game One: Colorado 7-3

Colorado started the game with its foot on the gas, outshooting the Aztecs 7-1 in the first six minutes. Forward Jermey Nash got the Buffs on the board first, batting a loose puck out of the air past Aztec goalie Liam Dee. 

The Buffs kept coming, as less than a minute later, forward Logan Behrje walked in on a short breakaway to increase the lead.

SDSU was stifled for the majority of the period, struggling to get out of its defensive end and only putting four shots on goal. 

With less than four minutes to go in the period, Buffs forward Elliot Testa went to the box to give the Aztecs their first look on the power play. The little action that CU goalie Matthew Server saw in the period left him ill-prepared for San Diego's chance. On an odd-man rush, SDSU forward Mason Brown put a harmless shot on Server, who got a piece of the puck, but it slowly trickled across the goal line.

Colorado quickly responded as forward David Hoftiezer sniped a shot past Lee to restore the two-goal lead 55 seconds later. Lee was furious with himself after the goal, slamming his stick into the ice after letting in his third goal of the first period on the 18th shot he faced. 

As time wound down in the first period, San Diego State maintained the offensive zone in the final seconds. With only 14 seconds to go, Aztec forward Cameron Ferraz passed the puck into the crease, and it was tipped past the blocker of Server.

The late first-period goal did not get Colorado down at the start of the second period. It came out hot, earning a power play that it could not finish on. However, the Buffs kept rolling, putting eight shots on Lee in the first six minutes. 

On a rush into the offensive zone, Buffs forward Dougie Wood put the brakes on at the top of the circles and wired a pass to Hoftiezer, who buried his second of the night.

As frustration grew for SDSU, forward Zachary Stroozas cross-checked Hoftiezer into the boards from behind. Stroozas and Testa traded blows behind the SDSU net, and both players were sent to the box. Testa received a minor while Stroozas got a five-minute major. 

Twenty-five seconds after Testa exited, quick passes in the offensive zone left a wide-open net for CU forward Brodie Pearson, who gave the Buffs a 5-2 lead. 

Forward Jeremey Nash piled onto the lead with a goal off an SDSU defender right after the major penalty expired.

With a 6-2 score at the start of the third, Colorado came in with a focus on maintaining its lead.

“Just don’t take the foot off the gas and just keep pounding them,” Hoftiezer said between periods. “We have blown a couple of leads before, so we need to make sure we are staying strong.”

Colorado’s lead seemed to be in jeopardy early as a power play goal by defenseman Ryan Elleraas put SDSU within three. 

However, the Buffs dug deep, only allowing four more shots on net, and added a power play goal by forward Benjamin Dickson to finish off the Aztecs in game one.

Game Two: Colorado 7-6

Game two against SDSU delivered a high-scoring affair on Senior Night with dueling hat tricks. Four seniors (Cam Piggott, Server, Julian Goodfellow, and Owen Dickinson) were honored before the barn burner began.

Goodfellow got his first start of the season in his final game as a Buff, and the other seniors showed out early in Saturday’s game. Piggott scored the first goal of the game less than four minutes in on a wrap-around short side.

SDSU looked to play spoiler on senior night and responded with a short-side goal of its own on a power play by defenseman Braden Mayer. However, Buffs forward Kevin Maisells was having none of it, finishing five-hole on a breakaway that left SDSU goalie Brody Hsiao stunned.

To continue the back and forth, Elleraas fired a shot through traffic that beat Goodfellow to tie the game at two. 

Elleraas was not finished there, as he went coast to coast and around Buffs defenseman Grant Robinson to score in tight for his second goal of the period.

The Aztecs’ first lead of the weekend did not last long. After three quick passes, Pearson found himself alone in front of the net and tied the game up again. The give-and-take action of the first period ended tied at three, with the Buffs leading the shots-on-goal battle 12-11.

Piggott kicked off the second period as he started the game, getting on the board first to give CU the lead. However, SDSU struck back again with a second power play goal as Elleraas completed the hat trick.

The Aztec power play continued to roll through the Buffs’ penalty kill. After CU forward Curren Stukey went to the box on a slashing call, SDSU defenseman Logan Okanski took the lead with a one-timer from a pass behind the net with 15:30 remaining. 

Wood tied the game on a loose puck that he buried into an empty net for the fourth goal in the first five minutes of the second. 

The chaos finally settled down in the middle frame as both teams began to play more passively. 

With a minute-and-a-half to go and both teams in a deadlock, Testa looked to be the game's hero. He came across the ice in the offensive zone and patiently waited for Hsiao to bite, then shot the puck in the top corner. 

The Buffs managed to hold on and take the lead into the third period. The Aztecs played intensely to start the final frame and out-skated CU. Off a face-off 45 seconds in, Okanski fired a shot from the point that found its way to the back of the net. He turned and gave a smile to Buffs’ bench with his arms in the air.

Both teams battled to gain the lead, increasing their physicality to try and get the upper hand. 

Halfway through the period, Colorado was called for too many men on the ice. The hot SDSU power play squad hopped over the bench, looking to take the lead. 

On a face-off on the defensive end, Piggott kept his stick on the ice and intercepted a pass with room to run. He took off, with two Aztecs frantically chasing him down. His speed proved to be too much as he went in alone and put one between Hsiao’s pads for a hat trick of his own. 

“[Piggott] wears a letter for a reason. He’s a great kid. He’s a great person off the ice,” Cardasis said. “Clearly tonight he showed his dominance, and that's what we’ve expected out of him all year.”

The short-handed tally sent SDSU into a tailspin as it took penalty after penalty. 

However, Colorado came up short on its opportunities as the Buffs couldn’t best the Aztecs’ kill. 

Just as the game appeared to be nearing completion, Colorado defenseman Jake Carnie went to the box and gave SDSU a power play with 45 seconds remaining. As the fans in attendance sat on the edge of their seats, Server and the rest of CU’s defense dialed in to secure the series sweep.

What’s Next:

Colorado will play its final series of the season, and as always, it is a big one. The Buffs will take a bus up I-25 to play in the final Rocky Mountain Showdown of the year against the Colorado State Rams (13-11-4). 

Colorado State is currently fourth in the WCHL, while CU has risen to ninth. In the season series, the Buffs hold the advantage at two games to one. 

Game one will be in Fort Collins on Friday, Feb. 20, at 7:15 p.m MT. Then, the series will flip to Boulder on Saturday, Feb. 21, at noon. 

The series sweep against SDSU may have given Colorado confidence that it can win the RMS.

“They’re always a good rivalry for us,” Cardasis said. “But we’re exactly where we need to be, and we’re ready to take on the challenge.”

The Rocky Mountain Showdown will stream live on the Sko Buffs Sports YouTube channel.