Warriors Open Season with Split at Colorado
BOULDER, Colo. – Midland University hit the ice inside the CU-Boulder Rec Center this weekend, opening the season with two games against the University of Colorado. The Warriors earned a 3-0 shutout win on Friday. On Saturday, the Buffaloes returned to force overtime and a shootout, winning 3-2 for the weekend split.
Midland 3, Colorado 0
The Warriors netted a goal in each period as they opened the season with a shutout over the Buffaloes. Milan Breczko scored just before the intermission as Hugo Lukacovic and Ethan Brown picked up assists on the first goal of the season.
In the second period, Zach Weber took advantage of a penalty shot at the 14:10 mark. In the final frame, Matthew McCaw added an insurance goal as Brown and Weber picked up assists.
Colorado was whistled for 8 penalties in the game while Midland was saddled with 10 infractions.
Liam Tereposky earned the clean sheet and the win with 24 saves in net. His counterpart, Liam O'Gwen also saw 24 shots but gave up three goals for the Buffaloes.
Colorado 3, Midland 2 (Shootout)
The Warriors looked to earn the weekend sweep over the Buffaloes on Saturday. Logan Wotton scored a pair of goals through the first two periods before a comeback from the home team forced overtime.
Wotton netted the game's first goal off assists from Leo Milan and Isaac Hood at the 16:17 mark of the first period. Nearing the end of the second, Wotton scored again. This time off assists from fellow veterans Jared Wisely and Milan Breczko. The goal came with 1:13 second before the second intermission, giving the Warriors a 2-0 lead into the final frame.
In the third period, Colorado scored its first goal of the weekend just under seven minutes in. With just under three minutes to go, the Buffaloes netted the equalizer. Despite a frenzy at the finish, the game went into a five-minute three-on-three overtime.
Both sides had their chances in the extra period but were denied by the stellar play of the goalies. Midland had four shots on net while Colorado had a pair of chances. Still tied after 65 minutes, the game went into a shootout.
During the shootout, Liam O'Gwen was able to stop the first two shots by the Warriors. His teammates were able to squeak the puck past Nahuel Veyan of the Warriors to earn the weekend split.
Veyan had 32 saves in the game while O'Gwen had 32 stops.
Midland (1-1) will return home where it will have a couple of weeks' worth of practice to prepare for its next test. The Warriors will travel to face Jamestown (0-0) on September 20-21 for a Midwest College Hockey (MCH) conference series. Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m. on Friday and Saturday in Jamestown, North Dakota.