BOULDER (2/15/11) – The Colorado Buffaloes hockey team will conclude the 2010-11 regular season this weekend with a home-and-home series against the University of Northern Colorado Bears. CU will play UNC in Greeley on Friday at the Greeley Ice Haus at 7:30 p.m. and in Boulder on Saturday night at the CU Ice Arena at 7:15 p.m.
Saturday’s game in Boulder will be senior night as the Buffs will honor the 10 seniors during the game. The players that will be playing in their final home game are Scott Cooley, Conor Williams, Andy Neitenbach, Mark Viau, Andrew Gillis, Scott Seale, Matt Ullrich, A.J. Koller, Mike Nunley, and Kevin Litinsky. Below are short bios of all 10 players.
Last week, the Buffs defeated the CSU Rams for the first time this season in a dominate 5-1 victory in front of the CU faithful at home. Neitenbach and freshman Chase Komatz both scored two goals in the game for Colorado.
Colorado comes into this week’s matchup ranked fourth in the ACHA West Division with a 14-10-1-2 record while Northern Colorado is ranked 14th in the region with a 5-17-1-1 mark. The Buffs won the two previous games against the Bears this season, winning 10-3 on Nov. 12 and 7-5 on Nov. 13.
Since Northern Colorado moved to division two in 2008, Colorado holds a 6-2-1 series lead over their in-state rival. CU holds a 4-1 advantage against UNC at the Greeley Ice Haus and a 2-1-1 mark against the Bears at the CU Ice Arena.
On Tuesday, the final ACHA D-II rankings were released with Colorado staying at number four in the standings. The Buffs will play the No. 8 Northern Arizona Ice Jacks in the first round of the ACHA West Regional Tournament on Friday Feb. 25 in Logan, Utah. If CU can get past NAU, they will then likely face No. 3 Colorado State, No. 5 Nevada-Las Vegas, or No. 6 San Diego State the next day with a berth to the national tournament on the line.
Northern Colorado didn’t crack the top 10 in the final rankings, meaning their season will end after the final buzzer on Saturday night in Boulder.
Admission to Saturday’s game at the CU Ice Arena is $5 for the general public and $3 for students with a Buff One Card.
