Colorado loses two crucial home games to Utah
Colorado Buffaloes women’s hockey is in quite the rough patch.
The Utah Utes (8-2) swept CU in Boulder by scores of 2-1 on Friday and 4-2 on Saturday. The Buffs have lost four of their last five games and are suddenly 7-6 on the year. They will likely lose their ranking and are in a hole at third place in the WWCHL.
The Utes exploited all of Colorado’s weaknesses. The story across both games was Utah being faster to loose pucks, which kept the Buffs pinned in their own end. CU’s passing was sloppy and purposeless, and Utah jumped on every mistake and hesitation to get possession.
Friday’s game was scoreless for the first 18 minutes. Utah dictated the pace of play and got out to a 10-6 shot lead. However, a late tripping penalty put the Buffs on the power play. Senior forward Mia Fiscelli got time and space in her spot and scored her 12th goal of the season.
But that was all for Colorado’s offense in game one. The second and third periods were all Utes. Shots on goal were 20-8 after two and finished 27-11, Utah.
Rookie defenseman Madigan Nemke took a shot from the point that goalie Shira Wein missed with her glove to tie it halfway through the second. Eleven seconds into the third, the Buffs’ forwards coasted behind Utes center Sonia Charman as she walked into the right circle and put it top shelf. A late, desperate effort from Colorado was too little, too late, and the Utes took game one.
Utah outskated Colorado for all 60 minutes. It was no problem for Utah to enter the zone and get the puck deep. CU had no urgency picking up blocked shots and rebounds; Utah did. Clear attempts were frequently backhand flips. Shifts would drag for minutes before the Buffs could finally get it out.
Saturday’s rematch was more of the same. Utah forward Toni Alm got out of the box at the perfect time to get a breakaway and went short-side on Wein to make it 1-0 in the first. Five minutes later, forward Katie Zeschuk cleaned up a mess in the crease to extend the lead to two.
CU’s early second-period effort was its best of either game. Fiscelli scored again on the power play, this time faking a defender towards the point and cutting down to the right circle for an open shot. It sparked energy back into the Buffs. But as the period went on, that energy died, and the game devolved back into Utah dominance.
Another Utah goal on the first shift of the third period was a dagger to the Buffs. A failed clear attempt gave the Utes a longer possession, and two Buffs were caught puck-watching as forward Blakely Van Nest finished on a rebound to make it 3-1.
Forward McKenna LaFleur added another for Utah on a nice play, circling the defensive shell until she found a shooting lane. Buffs’ winger Abby Zahn scored late to add some window dressing to a 4-2 final.
Both games were must-wins for the Buffaloes, and they were outworked. Because they spent every shift stuck in their own zone, there was no chance for offensive rushes. They constantly had to dump the puck to change and prepare for the next Utah possession.
Utah often sent two skaters to the puck carrier on the backcheck, which Colorado had no answer for. The Buffs couldn’t get rid of the puck in time before two Utes stole it back. There were many lateral passes from the Buffs in the neutral zone that didn’t advance anything.
Until Zahn’s late goal on Saturday, the Buffs had gone 14 consecutive periods without a goal from someone not named Fiscelli or Anna Masiello. Lack of depth scoring was a problem last year, and it’s gotten worse this year.
If there’s a silver lining, it’s that the Buffs’ power play was up to par for their standards. It converted twice out of six total times. The Buffs looked a lot more like themselves with a man-up, controlling the pace and finding space to shoot the puck. Now the focus must be on even strength.
The Buffaloes have a month to fix this slump before they play again. They face off with the Colorado State Rams (0-9) on Dec. 4 and 5 in Fort Collins to close out the semester.
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