Tigers rout Air Force, retain Pikes Peak Trophy

The Tigers made certain they would hoist the Pikes Peak Trophy Saturday night. 

The hosts responded to a poor performance in a Friday loss and Colorado College took advantage of two 5-minute major power plays to roll past Air Force 8-1 and retain the “city championship” hardware.

“I am really proud of our intensity, our compete, how we responded from last night,” Tigers coach Kris Mayotte said. “Everything we talked about not doing last night we did tonight. We executed for 60 full minutes tonight.”

It was CC’s first victory at Ed Robson Arena, much to the delight of most of the 3,570 on hand for the fourth sellout in as many games for the new on-campus facility. The win secured a nonconference series split after Air Force’s 5-4 overtime home victory on Friday. 

On Saturday, the Tigers (2-4-2)  recorded five power-play goals during those two extended man advantages and added another, the eventual game-winner by Hunter McKown early in the second period, to lead 5-0 entering the third. The six power-play goals tied a National Collegiate Hockey Conference record.

“They played fast, retrieved pucks and hunted them down,” Mayotte said of the Cc power-play units. “Our guys did a great job getting retrievals. The first one from (Matt) Gleason to Hunter was a big-time play and that just grew confidence.”

The game turned in CC’s favor for good shortly after Air Force sophomore Will Gavin, who recorded a hat trick Friday, including the OT game-winner, was sent off for a 5-minute contact from behind call on Hugo Blixt that sent the defenseman face first into the boards.

The Tigers took advantage by pumping in three power-play goals in 98 seconds to end Air Force senior goalie Alex Schilling’s night with 5:42 left in the middle frame.

That CC scoring spurt began when Jordan Biro’s centering pass went in off an Air Force defenseman and past Schilling (nine saves) with 7:20 left. 

Gleason followed that up to make it 4-0 just 42 seconds later when he banged in his own rebound. Brett Chorske scored his first goal in his first game as a Tiger (5:42 left) to make it 5-0.

“Before you can win, you first have to learn to not beat yourself,” Falcons coach Frank Serratore said. “We had a good first period and we were only down a goal (1-0)l. But we took way too many avoidable penalties and Colorado College took advantage of our careless play. We were very undisciplined.” 

Air Force’s Nate Horn spoiled CC goalie Dom Basse’s shutout attempt (16 saves) early in the third but a 5-minute major on the Falcons’ Luke Robinson helped CC pull away with two more power-play goals (Nate Schweitzer, Nick Andrews) for a 7-1 margin. Tyler Coffey added an even-strength tally with 8:45 left for the final margin. Tigers center Logan Will opened the scoring early in the first period with a hard shot that whizzed past Schilling’s head and went in just under the cross bar.

“Tonight we decided to come out and play the game we knew how to play,” said Gleason, one of eight Tigers with a score Saturday. He also added two assists. “We weren’t that team last night. We weren’t going to come into our barn and lose. We wanted to defend our place and get our first win here.” 

Ice chips

The CC school record for power-play goals in a single game is eight against UMass-Lowell on Jan. 18, 1986. … CC opens NCHC play against No. 1 St. Cloud State at home Nov. 5-6.  It is the first of four league series against ranked foes. Twenty-two of the team’s 34 games are scheduled against ranked opponents. … With Saturday’s win, CC maintains a 64-14-2 all-time series lead over the Falcons, with Air Force having won six of the past 11 games. …. The Falcons have now won the Pikes Peak Trophy four times (2013, 2014, 2016, 2017) and retained it once (2015) since its inception in 2013. CC won the trophy in 2018 and 2019 and retained it in 2021. The teams did not play last season. … Air Force (2-4) travels to Niagara, coached by former CC assistant Jason Lammers, to open Atlantic Hockey league action Nov 5-6.

Mistake-prone Tigers fall in OT to Air Force

Unforced turnovers, a Will Gavin hat trick and an inability to match Air Force’s competitive fire proved too much for an opportunistic Tigers team in a 5-4 overtime road loss Friday.

The left winger from Connecticut cut across the faceoff circles and buried his scoring chance, past CC goalie Dom Basse (30 saves), sending most of the 2,650 fans at Cadet Ice Arena into a frenzy.

The Air Force sophomore scored his third goal of the nonconference game just 55 seconds into the 3-on-3 OT when he collected an errant pass by Jordan Biro and beat Nate Schweitzer to the loose puck in the Colorado College zone. 

“Honestly, I don’t know what happened,” Gavin said of his game-winner. “It was a big lapse by them. I’ll take it. If they keep giving us those chances, hopefully we’ll bury them.”

“It felt like whoever got that first really good chance in overtime would probably win the game and knock on wood, we have been pretty good in those situations,” AFA coach Frank Serratore said. “The fans definitely got their money’s worth tonight.”

With the 2-3 Falcons’ victory, Colorado College must win Saturday’s Pikes Peak Trophy series finale outright to retain the “city championship” hardware.

“It’s been a big emphasis for us to win that trophy back and bring it back to our locker room,” Gavin said. “We cannot be more excited for that game.”

It will take a much-improved performance from the Tigers (1-4-2) to succeed on Saturday. The Tigers needed an extra-attacker goal by Tyler Coffey with 42 seconds left in regulation to force OT.

“We didn’t play well all game,” Tigers coach Kris Mayotte said. “We were lucky to be in it. I would like to say it showed that they stuck with it, but they never started. We got out competed right from the drop of the puck. We were fortunate to bury some of our chances to keep us in it but you cannot play that way and expect to win.”

Air Force seized control when Gavin and Ty Pochipinski both scored their second goals of the night during a critical 46-second span late in the second period to take a 4-3 lead into the final period. 

The Tigers were caught flat-footed during two defensive lapses. A long rebound went right to Gavin, who fired into a wide-open net. Pochipinski created his goal, firing a high whistler into the opposite upper corner as he skated between the faceoff circles.

That spurt reversed a 3-2 CC lead after a goal by Matt Gleason, who lifted in a loose puck in front after a hard shot by Stanley Cooley bounced into the slot midway through the second. Cooley finished with three assists on the night.

The referees let them play early and Air Force tok the game to the Tigers, using a physical style to set the tone and generate the opening goal. They pressured the flat-footed Tigers before former Tiger Ty Pochipnski lifted the puck over Basse’s shoulder for a 1-0 Falcons lead just 2:36 into the game.

CC would seize its chances during Air Force’’s own defensive breakdowns, leading to a pretty opening goal  by Logan Will, who went to the Falcon net front and one-timed a pass from below the goal line from Danny Weight for a 1-1 game with 15:08 left in the first.

The Tigers pulled ahead 2-1 in the first period and 3-2 in the second period on scores by Nicklas Andrews and Gleason, who both knocked in rebounds in front after the Falcons failed to clear the puck. Air Force answered, capitalizing on costly Tiger miscues.