Chelsea Self / Post Independent
The Glenwood Springs boys hockey team recovered from a quick goal to open the game by visiting Crested Butte Friday night to post a key 5-2 Peak League win at the Glenwood Community Center ice rink.
The large home crowd had barely settled into their seats when, after just 17 seconds of play, the Titans’ Graham Barrett maneuvered the puck by Demon senior goalie Hunter Hadsock to give the visitors a 1-0 advantage. Barrett was assisted on his score by Joseph Stock.
“They came out quick tonight. They were gunning for us,” Glenwood coach Tim Cota said of the tight league race, which has Glenwood now in second place at 4-2 behind 6-1 Summit.
”Their number one line is very talented,” Cota said of the Titans, who fall to 7-6 overall and 2-5 in league.
The Demons proved they have some talent also, as they came right back at Crested Butte with a quick strike of their own. On an assist from Sean Mooney, junior forward Colter Strautman scored an even strength goal with 15:49 showing on the first period clock to tie things up in what looked to be a high scoring affair.
Glenwood took the lead for good with 3:10 left in the opening period when Strautman and Mooney decided a role reversal of the opening goal would be in order. This time it was Mooney who provided a short-handed goal, with the assist going to Strautman.
And, with his skates now laced up a little tighter, Hadsock was turning back attempt after attempt by the Titans to preserve Glenwood’s 2-1 advantage heading into the first break.
The scoring slowed down considerably as defense became the main focus for both teams when they returned from the locker rooms. The scoreboard didn’t budge until midway through the second frame when Mooney again found the back of the Crested Butte net to give Glenwood some breathing room at 3-1.
Once again, Mooney’s running mate, Strautman, was there to give out the assist on the even-strength score.
As the second period neared its conclusion, the Demons faced some penalty issues with only three skaters on the ice. The Titans obliged Glenwood for the favor and made it 3-2 with 4:09 left to play as Stock took a rebound off the pad of Hadsock and flicked the puck into the back of the net. It was now anyone’s game with 17 minutes left to decide things.
The next score didn’t come until there was just 2:44 left to play. Demons junior forward Nolan McPherson smacked a hard drive from straight in front of the net past Titan goalie Sean Rourke to give Glenwood an insurmountable lead at 4-2. The Demon assist on McPherson’s goal came from senior Jacob Fowler.
Senior Ryan Kotz put the finishing touches on the final score with an empty net goal with just 36 seconds left to play to give the Demons the victory.
“We seemed to get stronger as the game went on and we kept building momentum,” Cota said. “We got down early, but the kids got back up in a hurry.”
Following the game, Cota saw his team’s ability to stay out of the penalty box for a good portion of the game as a big key to the win.
“We’re a very tough team to beat when we have five guys on the ice.”
Glenwood (8-3-1, 4-2) was on the road for a late 8:30 p.m. game at Columbine Saturday night (results in Monday’s Post Independent), and will be back on the Community Center ice this coming Friday night for a game against the league-leading Summit Tigers. The Demons lost at Summit earlier in the season on a last-second goal.
Mike Vidakovich was assisted on this report by Jeremy Joslin.
