BOULDER (10/16/10) – Two third period goals from Scott Seale and A.J. Koller helped the Colorado Buffaloes hockey team defeat the Weber State Wildcats 5-3 on Saturday night at the CU Ice Arena.
“They talk about winning ugly and this was one of the winning ugly games,” said CU head coach Ken Fikis. “We didn’t play very well all the way around. Kevin didn’t have one of his better games but a win is a win and we are looking forward to the next couple of weekends.”
Seale’s goal 29 seconds into the third stanza proved to be the game winner in a contest that was tied for the majority of the first 40 minutes. Koller scored with 6:29 remaining to give the Buffs some insurance over the Wildcats.
The victory is Colorado’s third in a row and improves their record to 4-0-0-1 on the season while Weber State drops to 1-7 on the year.
Sophomore David Starr led the Buffs in scoring with two goals and two assists while freshman Cody Glickman also found the back of the net. Senior Conor Williams finished the night with three assists.
Senior goaltender Kevin Litinsky made 21 saves in the victory, improving his record to 4-1 on the year. The Buffs outshot the Wildcats 46-24.
In a first period that saw both teams swap scoring chances, Glickman finally broke through for Colorado with his second goal of the season with 1:02 remaining in the stanza.
Weber State matched CU’s goal with one of their own from Dane Ludolph at 2:25 in the second period, but the Buffs regained the lead after Starr beat Wildcat goalie Paul Pfueger 49 seconds later.
Colorado didn’t hold the 2-1 lead for long as Chris Roberts scored less than a minute after Starr to retie the contest.
Starr scored his second of the period at 13:08 on the power play, but the theme of Weber State responding continued with Jesse Love scoring with the man advantage 2:30 later. It was the first goal that CU has given up this season on the penalty kill.
Colorado took the lead for good after Seale’s goal in the third with assists coming from Bill Haege and Andrew Neitenbach.
Next weekend Colorado heads to San Jose, Calif. to take part in the 4th annual Mid-State Electric Best of the West Showcase hosted by San Jose State.
CU will face the host Spartans on Thursday night at 9:15 p.m. MT before taking on Eastern Washington on Friday and Long Beach State on Saturday.
Scoring Summary
First Period
18:57 CU Cody Glickman, assists by David Starr and Conor Williams
Second Period
2:25 WSU Dane Ludolph, assists by Chris Hjorth and Avery House
3:14 CU David Starr, assist by A.J. Koller
4:08 WSU Chris Roberts, assist by Braxton Green
13:08 CU David Starr, assists by Conor Williams and Andrew Neitenbach – PP
15:38 WSU Jesse Love, assists by Dane Ludolph and Chris Hjorth – PP
Third Period
0:29 CU David Starr, assists by Bill Haege and Andrew Neitenbach
13:31 CU A.J. Koller, assists by David Starr and Conor Williams
