October 15, 2021 | SPORTS | By Michael Braithwaite | Photo by Anil Jergens
The weekend of Oct. 8 marked Colorado College’s first two regular-season hockey games of 2021-2022. The first game was played on Friday and the second on Saturday night.
Both games came against the visiting Saint Lawrence Saints, who wore white jerseys and red helmets in contrast to CC’s black and gold attire.
The Saints struck early in Friday’s matchup, notching an early goal just over two minutes into the game before some fans had even found their seats.
The goal occurred when Saint Lawrence University (SLU) forward Ashton Fry brought the puck up the right side of the rink and passed it to forward Aleksi Peltonen, who was positioned right in front of CC’s net.
Peltonen shot it past CC goalie Dominic Basse ’24 to give SLU the 1-0 lead.
Following the goal, both teams traded power plays and other offensive opportunities into the second period. Then, the Saints cashed in on one of them for the second time of the night.
The goal came six minutes into the second period during a SLU power play as a result of the Saints passing the puck effectively through the Tigers’ penalty kill defense.
The goal was scored by SLU forward Kaden Pickering, who was assisted by defenseman Phillipe Chapleau and forward Chris Pappas on the play.
Five minutes later, the Tigers were finally able to capitalize on a chance of their own. CC defender Jack Millar ’24, upon receiving a pass from forward Jordan Biro ’24, fired a shot at SLU goalie Emil Zetterquist.
The shot bounced off Zetterquist’s chest over to the left side of the SLU net, where CC defenseman Chase Foley ’24 was waiting for it.
“[Jordan Biro] threw it far pad, leaving a wide-open net,” Foley said after the game. “I just closed my eyes and shot it, and it went in.”
This score to bring the game to 2-1 brought some life back to the Tiger bench, but ultimately was not a catalyst for any more scoring for the rest of the game.
Although they were not able to capitalize again, CC did have numerous chances later to do so.
With just seconds left in the third period, and with Basse pulled from the net, CC forward Logan Will ’24 had an open shot on the left side of the SLU net.
However, unlike his goal against Air Force the weekend before, Will was not able to bury the shot.
The Tigers ended up outshooting the Saints 39-15, but SLU were much more efficient with their opportunities.
“I liked the effort in all three periods,” Coach Kris Mayotte said postgame. “We had to find a way to get another goal [though].”
Mayotte also discussed how CC would prepare for the following night’s game against The Saints, saying that the team would need to look at the tape to figure out what they needed to improve upon.
Whatever Mayotte saw on the tape from that night must have prompted him to make some significant changes. During Saturday night’s game, the Tigers looked almost like an entirely different team.
Instead of relying on an abundance of shots like the night before, the Tigers took the time to set up each opportunity, hoping that they could use their passing to get the Saints out of position for a goal.
CC would have been completely out of this game, however, if it were not for Basse making multiple great saves.
After a scoreless first two periods, it seemed the Tigers were on the verge of a goal. They went on the power play at the start of the third period.
They didn’t immediately capitalize, though. At 5:19 into the third period, SLU forward Chris Pappas made an clean pass to his teammate, defenseman Luc Salem, on the right side of the net, who got it by Basse for a goal.
“[The goal] sucked some energy from us a bit,” said Coach Mayotte postgame. “They scored on their first shot of the period, but then our guys just turned it on.”
Only six minutes after SLU had poked their shot through, the Tigers had a goal of their own.
Defenseman Chase Foley ’24 passed it to fellow defenseman Jack Millar ’24, who then sent a slap shot from the front of the neutral zone into the top right corner of SLU’s net.
Ed Robson Arena erupted as CC had finally taken advantage of the chances they had been getting all night long, bringing the score to a 1-1 tie.
The Tigers then began a barrage of shots on the SLU goal, desperately trying to put one more through before the clock hit zero. They were unable to do so, and the game went into overtime.
Collegiate overtime consists of a 3-vs-3 matchup for a five-minute period.
For non-conference games, if the score remains tied at the end of the period, the game ends in a draw.
This was the final result for the Tigers, who were unable to get any of their overtime shots through SLU’s goalie Emil Zetterquist.
Mayotte, in a cheerier mood than the previous night, felt satisfied with the team’s performance, even though they were not able to pull out a victory.
“Last week vs. Air Force, I thought we got punched and didn’t punch back … our guys punched back tonight,” Mayotte said.
Mayotte was also particularly excited about the team’s upcoming slew of games on the east coast.
“I’ll be honest, I can’t wait to get on the road,” Mayotte said. “This weekend was incredible, but also its distracting for our guys … I think it’ll be good for us to just [focus on hockey] out there.”
The next CC hockey matchup is Friday, Oct. 15 at Union College. The next home game is Saturday, Oct. 30 at 6:00 p.m. vs. Air Force.