If there was any question if a rivalry still existed between CSU and CU-Boulder, Friday night’s hockey game at the Pepsi Center put it to rest almost immediately after the puck dropped.
CU-Boulder hit the ice like a thoroughbred stallion out of the gates of the Kentucky Derby, scoring the game’s first goal from their forward Andrew Nelson just over two minutes into the game.
“We were all ready. We were ready to play and that showed when we had that great start in the first few minutes as we went up on the scoreboard,” CU-Boulder defenseman Jase Richardson said.
The Buffaloes quickly followed with another goal four minutes later from defensemen Alex Dobzanski, which had CSU coach Kelly Newton and his team with a mountain to climb only six minutes in.
“It’s frustrating because we had a bad practice Thursday. As a coach you have this bad feeling that it will carry into the first period of the next game, which is exactly what happened,” Newton said. “We put it in neutral and didn’t do the things that we needed to do well.”
The Rams were able to scratch a tally on the scoreboard with a two-on-one breakaway goal from Adrian Olson that brought them back to within one at the end of the first period.
“We didn’t get the start we were looking for, and as a goalie there’s not much I can do except forget it and let my team do their job as we battled back,” CSU goalie Corson Cramer said.
The locker room talk after the first period must have sparked a fire beneath the Rams because they tied the game at two just four minutes into the second period of play.
The game-tying goal also brought the physical factor of play. The second period saw more checks than an apartment complex landlord on the first of the month.
The third and final period was an even battle that went back and forth until the go-ahead goal from Erik Waring put the Rams up 3-2 with 11:35 left to play.
“We went away from what we’re good at, we should have just stuck to our systems and what we know,” Richardson said. “It took us out of our groove and we never got it back.”
It was all CSU from there.
The Rams took their first lead of the game and ran away with it until CU-Boulder hobbled off the ice in defeat.
After the first two goals of the game from the Buffaloes, the Rams scored five straight unanswered to ultimately win the Rocky Mountain Center Ice Showdown 5-2.
“The first game against CU was super clutch to win and I don’t think they will be feeling too good the next time they come up to play us,” Cramer said. “We wanted to send a message to them right away, and I think we did that tonight.”
Club Sports Beat Reporter Quentin Sickafoose can be reached at sports@collegian.com.
