The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
“Fortunately, it happened in the regular season, and we can learn from this”
By Than Acuff
After scoring two goals in the final 90 seconds of regulation to tie the game, the Crested Butte Titans hockey team eventually fell in overtime to the Glenwood Springs Demons on Thursday, February 12. They now enter the post season the ninth seed and will face Palmer on Friday, February 20 at 7:15 p.m. at the Sertich Ice Center in Colorado Springs.
Revenge was on the minds of the Titans as they hosted the Demons, a team that edged out a 4-3 win over Crested Butte just 10 days prior. It was a game that really came down to a slow start by the Titans, so the coaching staff had the players put their phones away an hour and a half before the game time and the difference was noticeable.
“They showed up in the first period which has not been our best period this season,” says coach Paul O’Connor.
Good thing too because Glenwood Springs came out at a breakneck pace and the Titans matched them stride for stride and then some, eventually outshooting the Demons in the opening period.
The bad news was that Glenwood’s goalie was having himself a game and the Demons packed the center lane making it hard for the Titans to get many clean looks on net while they managed to score a goal in the final minute of the first period for a 1-0 lead.
“They had a pretty good defensive strategy, and it took our boys time to adjust,” says O’Connor.
The second period played out much like the first with the Titans getting their chances on net, but Glenwood picked up their game as well. Both the Titan’s goalie Ryder Church, and the Glenwood goalie continued their efforts in net as the teams each traded off penalties looking for opportunities. As has often been the case, the Titans created numerous shorthanded chances during their penalty kills but continued to be denied and the Demons tacked on a second goal for a 2-0 lead heading into the third period.
But the Titans are a third period team, and the game was far from over. They started off with another powerplay and a redirect by Emery White looked bound for the back of the net, but the Glenwood goalie came up huge once again.
Time started running out on the Titans but when the Demons picked up two penalties, Crested Butte was on a 5v3 with just under three minutes left and O’Connor called a timeout. And when they returned to the ice, it was obvious, Crested Butte was all in with their goalie pulled and their top six players on the ice for a 6v3.
The move paid off from the start as the Titans kept winning faceoffs in the Demon defensive zone and firing shots, but their goalie kept making saves. That is until there was just 90 seconds left in regulation. Another flurry of Titan shots had the goalie scrambling and while the Demons had the slot packed, Jake White seized on a rebound to score.
The goal released the penalty on Glenwood, so the teams were back to full strength, but O’Connor stuck with the same skaters looking to keep the pressure on the Demons. Once established in Glenwood’s zone again, Church was pulled and a sixth skater sent back to join the attack for Crested Butte.
Ethan Suazo slid in for a faceoff with 23 seconds left and won it, dropping the puck to Luke Hartigan who immediately sent it to Max Dukeman at the point. Dukeman corralled the pass, took a beat to line up his shot and fired a low shot through traffic past the Glenwood goalie to tie the game 2-2 and send it into overtime.
“We had good net front presence on that to take away the goalie’s vision,” says O’Connor.
Crested Butte remained on the front foot in the overtime with their first and second lines creating additional chances but couldn’t get the final game winning touch. Then, with 39 seconds left, Glenwood won a faceoff in the Titans’ zone and after hitting the crossbar, fired another shot. Church made the initial save but a Demon was on the doorstep to punch home the rebound for the 3-2 Glenwood win. The Titans ended up outshooting the Demons 46-26, a testament to the Glenwood goalie’s effort, while Church finished with 23 saves.
“They won the faceoff and won the game,” says O’Connor. “It was one of the best three period games we’ve played, we just kept plugging away. Fortunately, it happened in the regular season, and we can learn from this.”
Crested Butte will open the 4A state tournament against Palmer on Friday, February 20 at 7:15 p.m. in Colorado Springs. You can watch the game on the NFHS Network or the Crested Butte Titans athletics Facebook page. A win there sends them onto the Great Eight. A loss anytime during the tournament ends their season.
“It’s going to be a tough road, but we’ve been neck-and-neck in games against some of the top teams this season,” says O’Connor.
