The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Return to action at home Friday, January 3
by Than Acuff
After splitting games the first two weekends of the season, the Crested Butte Titans hockey team won both games on the road in their final weekend before the holiday break, improving to 4-2.
The Titans had an easy go of it against the Palmer Terrors on Friday, December 20, skating to a 10-2 win and then followed that up with a 4-1 win over Woodland Park. It took a while for the Titans to get going though, as illness continued to run through the team. The two teams skated through a scoreless first period despite the Titans outshooting Woodland Park 13-4.
“Since we were missing several players to sickness, different lines were thrown together and it was difficult to get things going with those new lines,” says assistant captain Chris Myers.
The Titans finally opened the scoring three minutes into the second period as Matthew Solanik scored, with the assist coming from Joseph Stock and Graham Barrett. Woodland Park tied the game back up a minute later but Crested Butte continued to gain steam as the second period progressed. Their efforts eventually paid off as Solanik scored his second goal of the game and then Barrett netted a shorthanded goal for a 3-1 Titans lead.
“We worked hard both periods and just started to wear the other team down,” says Myers. “We had better defensive positioning in the second period and started to get more creative in the offensive zone.”
With the Titans lines depleted by illness and Woodland Park continuing to wear down, the two teams skated through the third period with each producing a couple of chances on net. The Titans defense and goaltender Shaughn Rourke did what needed to be done to turn away Woodland Park, and Crested Butte capitalized on a power play in the 12th minute of the third to tack on an insurance goal by Barrett. Rourke finished the game stopping 15 of 16 shots.
“It was a lot like the second period and we just kept plugging away to finish the game off,” says Myers.
While illness did slow the Titans down a bit, they still rattled off two wins prior to the holidays and Myers is seeing things starting to come together for the team.
“Everything is feeling a lot more fluid right now,” says Myers. “Everyone is finding their place on the team, knowing their jobs and sticking to them.”
The Titans returned to the ice this week for workouts and are back to full strength as they prepare for a big game against Chaparral on Friday, January 3 in Gunnison at 6:30 p.m.
“This is the team that knocked us out of the playoffs last year, so we’re focused,” says Myers. “There’s no messing around at practices and everyone is putting in the extra effort.”
