COLORADO GRIT HOCKEY

Grit Come up Short in Game Two
Grit 3 – Ice Rays 7

Apr 13, 2025 | Game Recap

Grit Fall Just Short in Playoff Opener
Grit 1 – Ice Rays 2

Apr 12, 2025 | Game Recap

Luca’s Mann early first period goal and Pete Sterling’s outstanding performance in his playoff debut fell just short of getting the Grit their first-ever postseason win on Friday night in Corpus Christi. Colorado fell in a 2-1 thriller against the #3 seed IceRays to fall behind 1-0 in the best-of-3 series.

The Grit jumped on top early, executing a breakout play to perfection to beat Corpus Christi netminder Benji Motew. Colorado broke into the offensive zone and Luke Helgeson drew two defenders before slipping a rinkwide pass to winger Lucas Mann. Mann shifted to the backhand and slipped the puck past Motew to give the Grit an early lead, 1-0, just 4:30 minutes into the first period. Colorado had a pair of power-play opportunities in the opening twenty minutes, but were unable to crack Motew a second time and took the one-goal lead into the first intermission.

Colorado started the second period in search of an insurance tally, but both Motew and Sterling held strong for their respective sides in net. Sterling, who finished with 24 saves, stonewalled a Billy Biedermann one-timer from the low slot with a shoulder save midway through the frame to keep the Grit ahead by the lone goal headed into the second intermission.

The IceRays found their tying tally in the opening minute of the third period; Cooper Conway punched a shot to the high blocker side past Sterling to finish off a 2-on-1 and tie the game 1-1 just 53 seconds into the third period to finally activate the crowd of 1,532. The teams buckled down defensively and Corpus Christi found another late 2-on-1 opportunity to take the lead. Pierson Sobush sauced a pass to linemate Troy Pelton, who tipped the puck past a sliding Sterling to give the IceRays their first lead, 2-1, with 5:49 left in regulation. The Grit pulled the netminder for the extra attacker in the final two minutes, but couldn’t find a way to beat Motew and repeat the heroics of last Sunday.

The Grit and IceRays face off in Game 2 of the South Division Play-In Series on Saturday night with the Grit needing to win to avoid elimination. Puck drop is at 7:35 PM CDT/6:35 PM MDT.

Grit Punches Ticket to Playoffs with Wild Win in Odessa
Grit 8 – Jackalopes 6

Apr 5, 2025 | Game Recap

Eight different goal scorers and an offensive barrage aided Colorado as they withstood a furious Odessa comeback to nab an 8-6 victory and secure the franchise’s first ever playoff berth on Friday night in Odessa.

The first period was among the best periods of hockey that the Grit have played all season long. Winger Kennan Reyelts started the scoring with a wrist shot off the post to give Colorado a 1-0 lead just 3:44 into the first period. The Grit offense exploded for three goals in six minutes in the latter stages of the first period to balloon the advantage to 4-0; Lucca Ori nabbed a shorthanded goal, Landon West slipped a wrist shot past Jackalopes netminder Aries Carangi to chase the starting netminder, and Willy Johnson redirected a wrist shot from the point into the cage. A late power play opportunity in the first period gave the Grit a chance to create a 5-0 advantage headed into the first intermission. Instead, Odessa forward Jordan Larkee collected a loose puck, barreled down the ice and buried a wrist shot over the blocker of Richard Rafaj to get Odessa on the scoreboard, 4-1, with fifteen seconds left in the period.

The Grit countered with an immediate response to start the second period. On the first shift, Ben Rakowski flipped a pass from the left wing corner towards Lucas Mann who then buried a one-timer for his eighth goal of the season to restore the four-goal cushion, 5-1, just twelve seconds into the middle frame. The goalscoring settled for much of the middle period, but the Jackalopes again used their shorthanded offense to great effect. Odessa forward Caden Ghiossi raced down the left wing and had the puck knocked off his stick, but regathered in the high slot and ripped a shot past Rafaj to cut the deficit, 5-2, with 4:53 remaining in the frame. Colorado responded immediately for the second time when George Poirier rifled a wrist shot past William Karphed to nab the Grit’s third power play goal of the game and push the score to 6-2 with 4:40 left in the second period.

The Grit appeared to have control down the stretch until a furious Jackalope rally reinvigorated the Ector County Coliseum crowd of 1,100. With 13:56 remaining, Joel L’Esperance snapped a shot from the edge of the right wing circle to trim the deficit to 6-3 for the Jackalopes. Ninety seconds later, Larkee gathered the puck off a carom from the endboards and lifted it past Rafaj to bring Odessa back within two, 6-4, with 12:21 remaining. Another shot from the point caused issues for the Grit as Nicholas Arrington’s snapshot squeaked into the back of the net and the Jackalopes pulled back within one, 6-5, with 11:33 to play. For the third time, a resilient Colorado offense struck. Sheldon Rioux tipped a point shot past Karphed to provide Colorado much needed breathing room, 7-5, with 6:20 remaining in regulation. The Jackalopes pulled their goaltender for the extra attacker while on the power play with under 2:30 to go in the third period and Christian Tavare batted a second chance rebound into the net to again tighten the gap to one, 7-6, with 2:25 left. After Rakowski pounded a shot into the empty net from center ice with 29 seconds remaining, the Grit were able to bleed the rest of the clock out successfully and pour off the bench when the final buzzer sounded.