Colorado College beat Air Force, 8-0

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Senior goalie Matt Vernon stopped all 30 shots he faced to lead Colorado College to an 8-0 win over Air Force in a non-conference college hockey game Friday night, Oct. 28, at Robson Arena in Colorado Springs. With the win, the Tigers will at least retain the Pikes Peak Trophy for the 2022-23 season.

Colorado College (3-4-0 overall) scored two goals in a span of 2:05 of the first period for a 2-0 lead. Stanley Cooley took a shot from the point that was going wide of the net. However, the puck hit a skate and deflected in front of the net and Logan Will tapped it in at 11:57. After a penalty on the Falcons, CC scored on the power play. Noah Laba's shot from the slot was saved but Gleb Veremyev put back the rebound at 14:02. The Falcons had two quality chances in the first period, both turned away by CC goalie Matt Vernon. Parker Brown had a short-handed shot on the rush and Austin Schwartz redirected one in front.

Early in the second period, with Air Force on a power play, a major penalty was called on Air Force's Willie Reim. The Falcon kill came up with several clears, saves and blocks, but with 1:14 left on that power play, the Tigers took a 3-0 lead. Laba took a pass from Ryan Beck and scored with a wrister from the slot at 8:59. Later in the period, Laba's shot was saved, but Ethan Straky put back the rebound at 15:07 for a 4-0 lead.

Laba netted his second of the game at 1:30 of the third period with a wrister from the slot. After the goal, Falcon starter Guy Blessing was replaced by Maiszon Balboa. On the next shift, Logan Will scored with a wrister from the right point for a 6-0 lead at 1:39. On the power play, Hunter McKown scored from the left circle for a 7-0 Tiger lead at 6:06. McKeown netted his second of the period on the power play at 10:11.

"This was death by a 1,000 cuts," head coach Frank Serratore said. "Colorado College is much improved and they took advantage of all of our mistakes. They were opportunistic and we were not. We took way too many penalties and they made us pay. The better team won by a country mile. We have to get better in a lot of areas. We weren't very good tonight, but they had a lot to do with that. Moving forward, we need to find three or four things to improve on and flush the rest of it. We need to clear our heads and take our swings tomorrow."

CC outshot Air Force, 33-30, in the game. The Tigers were 4-for-9 on the power play while Air Force was 0-for-3. Blessing started the game for Air Force and made 16 saves in 41 minutes. Balboa came on early in the third period and mad four saves. Austin Park played the final eight minutes and stopped all five shots he faced.

Air Force (2-4-1) and Colorado College conclude the two-game series on Saturday at 7:07 pm MT at the Cadet Ice Arena.

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Team Stats

Austin Schwartz

Chris Hedden

Mason McCormick

Luke Rowe

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