The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Home games Friday at 6 p.m., Saturday at 11 a.m.
By Than Acuff
The Crested Butte Titans hockey team came out of the holiday break refreshed and renewed to open 2026 with a 6-1 win over Summit High School in Breckenridge on Saturday, January 3 improving to 5-5 and are sitting in third place in the Mountain League standings and ranked 10th in the state in 4A.
The Titans headed into the holidays fresh off a 7-1 win over Durango and were looking solid with penalties down, puck movement up and morale improving as the players were settling into their roles on the team and the systems in place.
“The Durango game gave us some momentum and good aspects to build on going into the break which was good for the team,” says senior captain Luke Hartigan.
The Titans managed to get practices in over the break to maintain the momentum they’d established before the break and came into the game against Summit looking to start the next part of the season on a positive note.
“Once we got through the sicknesses, we were able to get in a few practices before the Breckenridge game,” says coach Paul O’Connor.
“Close to the game with Breckenridge we had more upbeat and intense practices which were very helpful in getting prepared for the game and getting back into shape,” adds Hartigan.
It showed from the opening puck drop as Crested Butte came out pressuring the puck and seemingly scoring early only to have their initial strike waved off. Moments later the Titans were on a powerplay and while their puck movement was on point, they struggled to find the net and when Summit came out of the penalty kill, they turned up their effort.
Crested Butte held off the mid-period surge by Summit and when Summit suffered another penalty, the Titans made them pay as Max Dukeman slipped a pass into the slot and Jake White poked it past the Summit goalie for a 1-0 Titans’ lead.
Titans’ goalie Ryder Church then came up big for the Titans with a couple of saves, including a point-blank glove save, and the Titans struck again as Ethan Suazo skated into the high slot and picked the upper corner for a 2-0 Titans lead by the end of the first period.
“We were a bit confused in the first period but still able to score two goals,” says O’Connor. “Ryder was great, he gave us a complete game.”
Summit opened the second period on the powerplay and used that to jump start their effort against the Titans. They continued to gain momentum with a penalty kill and when the Titans were hit with a five-minute major toward the end of the second period, Summit finally broke the seal on the Titan net to pull within one.
“We played poorly in the second period,” says O’Connor. “They came out hitting and that threw us off.”
Crested Butte remained on the penalty kill to open the third period with a renewed sense of purpose scoring a short-handed goal when defenseman Floyd Sedunov poked the puck loose and Dukeman skated up ice to hold off three Summit players and score.
Moments later Summit threatened again when Church came off his line to stuff a shot, but the puck squirted loose and when Summit had a chance on the open net, both White and Suazo had slipped in behind Church to protect the net and deny Summit a goal.
From that point on the Titans took control of the game resulting in three more Crested Butte goals. Suazo battled along the boards to come up with the puck and score 10 minutes into the third period. Emery White grabbed the puck behind Summit’s net to feed Dukeman in the slot for Crested Butte’s fifth goal and Hartigan then fed White for a shot and Emery pinged it in off the post for the final Titans’ goal and the 6-1 win. Church finished the game with 30 saves.
“After the second period we talked about what we needed to do and how we were going to execute to come out with a crucial win and I think that showed in the third period,” says Hartigan.
“Everybody committed to the game we wanted to see and showed us who they can be,” adds O’Connor.
The Titans now have to step up for their next opponent as they host Battle Mountain out of Vail on Friday, January 9 at 6 p.m. and then again on Saturday at 11 a.m.
“They play a strong three periods and keep their feet moving,” says O’Connor. “We can compete but it’s going to take a full three periods and we have yet to put together three complete periods. The legs feed the wolves, and the wolves feed the pack.”
“Everyone has been playing and practicing at a very high level and working hard every day,” says Hartigan. “Everyone has fun playing which helps with confidence and when mistakes are made, we lift each other up which is very important for success and winning games.”
