Colorado College men’s hockey won their first game of the season last Saturday against the United States Air Force Academy by a score of 4-3 at the Broadmoor World Arena. Junior Captain Sam Rothstein led the Tigers with two goals, the first multipoint game of his career. The Tigers dropped Friday night’s game 3-4 against the Falcons. Saturday’s game was the highlight of the weekend for Coach Mike Haviland’s squad.
“This weekend the team was successful because we played hard for all 60 minutes of the game,” said junior forward Luc Gerdes. “There were no let-downs, and all 20 guys on the ice were fully committed to the win.”
Air Force struck quick Saturday night scoring the first goal of the game in 1:17. Gerdes was able to even the score for the Tigers just before the end of the first period, snapping in a shot past Air Force goalie Shane Starrett on a power play. Air Force took the lead again in the second half. Capitalizing on another power play at 12:42, forward Rothstein tied the game. Rothstein struck again at 4:00 in the third period to give the Tigers the lead for the first time in the game.
Senior forward Cody Bradley used the team’s momentum to bring the Tigers ahead by two at 9:39. Twelve seconds later the Falcon’s retaliated with a goal of their own. The Tigers were able to hold the lead for the remainder of the game and finally put an end to their season long slump. Freshman goalie Jacob Nehama finished the game with 22 saves including two impressive stops on 2-on-1 opportunities for the Falcons.
The Tigers exited the weekend rewarded with a much-needed win. With the first win of the season fresh on their minds, the team is expecting a bright future. “One of our biggest problems this season has been our ability to close out a game,” said Bradley. “We learned this weekend what it takes to win and how hard that is. Hopefully with the monkey off the first win off our back we can make winning more of a habit.”
“The team is young and needed to learn what it takes to win in this league,” said freshman forward Trey Bradley. “Every weekend our team has learned and gotten better. It was only a matter of time before we got our first win.”
The Tigers host Miami University next weekend on Dec. 4 and 5 at the Broadmoor World Arena.