COLORADO GRIT HOCKEY

It was deja vu all over again for the Grit as George Poirier notched a goal, but the Grit relived a 5-1 scoreline in defeat against the El Paso Rhinos at the Ice Haus Saturday night.

Colorado came off strong within the first few minutes of the period when Justin Vlassis made a pass up at the point to William Johnson as he nearly scored at the front of the net, denied by Michael Manzi as he completed a left pad save. Manzi, who finished with 30 saves, filled the shoes of Joey LoVullo as starting goaltender for El Paso after the injury LoVullo experienced on Friday night. With 15:24 to go William Johnson was able to retrieve the puck from El Paso and make his way down the ice, four on three passing it over to Cole Peter’s as he saw the rush and took advantage of the turnover going in for the snap shot although Michael Manzi completed another save. Lucca Ori has made a handful of assists so far this season, he is still looking for a goal of his own. Ori came close with 14:56 left on the clock, when the face off took place on the right side in the Rhinos zone. A shot off the block landing the puck with Lucca Ori, he made a left pass to Junker and back to Ori with an attempted rebound and got denied by Michael Manzi. Colorado was putting pressure on El Paso, leaving Colorado with ten shots on goal compared to the two attempts El Paso had on the board halfway through the first period. Colorado made great progress with their offense in the first period, but it wasn’t enough to get around goaltender Michael Manzi as he defended the net very well, not allowing a single Colorado goal. Colorado netminder Jack Erickson made nine of his 27 saves in the first period as the frame ended scoreless, 0-0.

Just 2:24 into the second period, Lucca Ori made a smart play as he sped down the left side of El Paso territory attempting to forehand a backhanded pass, got his shoulder down to take on an El Paso defenseman who pivoted too late causing a penalty, and earned Colorado an early power play for the period. During the power play, a cross-ice pass at the El Paso blue line was intercepted by Jacob Solano as he was off to the races headed down the ice when George Poirier committed a hooking penalty. A penalty shot was granted and Solano faced goaltender Jack Erickson one on one making a head fake, scoring top shelf, and El Paso jumped on top 1-0 with 16:35 to go in the second period. Special teams and Solano converged with success for the Rhinos again. The Rhinos continued to cycle the puck around on their first power play until Solano was able to flip a shot from the high slot through traffic past a screened Erickson and into the back of the net. The tally doubled the Rhino advantage, 2-0, with 10:20 left in the period. get the puck through the crease and score. 

Colorado made a quick comeback when the opportunity presented itself; Grit defenseman Braden Junker accelerated forward  and was converged on by three El Paso players. His no-look, backhand pass to Justin Vlassis created a two on none down low and George Poirier was able to slam the puck in for his second goal of the season with 8:48 left to play in the second and bring the Grit back within a goal, 2-1. El Paso received a power play from a boarding call on Cole Peters and they made use of the two minute advantage. As the power play expired, Kyle Arias made the first shot and got denied, but the puck had come out loose in front of the net and with Erickson leaned backwards, Solano completed his hat trick with his second power play goal of the period to double the El Paso lead, 3-1, headed into the third period.

Despite the shot count favoring Colorado, 24-15, the Rhinos again made their efforts count. Six minutes into the final period when Ty Gordon was able to maneuver around Cole Peters and slide the puck through the crease for Roope Tuomioksa to add to his goal collection at the expense of Colorado and make the score 4-1 with 13:53 to play. El Paso picked up their final goal with 9:43 to play when Kyle Arias retrieved the puck and made his way down the ice. Arias flew past Braden Junker, as Junker played him well keeping him to the outside, but ultimately scored with a great wrist shot to beat Erickson and add the flourish, 5-1, with 9:43 remaining in regulation.

Grit forward William Johnson scored a late goal in the third period and goaltender Jack Erickson made 33 saves, but Colorado fell to El Paso in a 5-1 decision Friday night while a scary injury to El Paso netminder Joey LoVullo towards the end of the third period marred Hockey Fights Cancer Night at the Greeley Ice Haus.

Quickly into the first period El Paso made their presence known; a pass made into the high slot was initially blocked by forward Kennan Reyelts, but the puck snuck through and was pushed into the net by Rhino winger Roope Tuomiokas took a shot and gave the Rhinos a 1-0 lead with 17:20 remaining. The first period could be classified as powerplay central the way both teams exchanged five on four plays throughout the first twenty minutes. El Paso returned back to full strength with 9:47 left to go after a Colorado powerplay where both teams battled it out in the corner, Grit defenseman Braden Junker took a late hit from behind by Beckett Hinchsliff causing Lucca Ori and Luke Helgeson to defend their teammate. That hit landed now two El Paso members in the penalty box with a two plus ten on the board allowing Colorado their second powerplay for the first period. Ori had the only luck in this powerplay as he made a shot and goaltender Lovullo didn’t notice right away that the puck was in between his pads. Reyelts rushed the net and tried to punch the rebound in, but LoVullo made another of his 24 saves.

Colorado was in luck with the extra advantage on El Paso as they were able to utilize their offense with more shooting opportunities, outshooting the Rhinos 10-6, down the duration of the period, but still entered the second frame trailing 1-0. 

With four minutes to go in the second period, Nate McIsaac was knocking on Colorado’s door with a wrist shot above the left wing circle, and goaltender Jack Erickson couldn’t keep him out. McIsaac’s first goal in the North American league doubled the El Paso advantage. 2-0, with 4:37 left in the period. Moments later, Colorado took  a chance to get numbers on the board as Alex German made a pass in front of The Rhinos net to Christan Carter, but LoVullo made a right pad save. In the waning seconds, Seconds left in regulation showed El Paso defenseman Alex Pellerin made an outlet pass for Ty Gordon on the backhand and when Gordon slid into the net and the puck followed as the whistle blew, the referees conferred and ruled no goal. Before the teams parted for intermission Alex German and Quinn Bowden were involved in extracurricular activities right in front of the El Paso bench, resulting in Alex German to pick up a roughing minor as the teams were separated on their respective sides of the ice as they went to the dressing room and El Paso on top, 2-0.  

With seventeen minutes to go. Rhino winger Ty Gordon’s name would be mentioned again as he ran through Colorado netminder Jack Erickson, knocking his glove off and setting off another post-whistle battle and giving The Grit gained an opportunity to get back into the game. The Grit power play finished 0-for-5, but the offense didn’t need the man advantage to finally get going. Colorado’s first point on the board came with 11:07 to play in the third when William Johnson was able to get on the end of a pass on the backhand right in front of the Rhino net and scored to give the Grit a 2-1 deficit with 11:08 to go. The energy had shifted with noticeable confidence radiating through as the Grit did all they could with the energy they gained from William Johnson’s second goal of the year to try and tie up the game. 

The excitement all came to an end with 8:40 left on the clock due to an unexpected collision in the net involving El Paso’s goaltender Joey LoVullo and Grit forward Christen Carter. LoVullo was driven backwards into the goal frame in a massive collision that both athletic training and EMT staff were called to tend to Joey LoVullo. The goaltender was then transferred onto a stretcher, giving a thumbs up, as he was safely transported off of the ice taken by the paramedics. After a scary and stressful situation, Michael Manzi filled the netminder’s position for the remaining eight minutes left in the game. A five minute charging and game misconduct was given to Carter.

With five minutes left to play, both teams were getting back into their rhythm and resetting their focus when El Paso forward A.J Reed went for the bank shot, the puck bounced off netminder Jack Erickson, lost in his pads and successfully reached the back of the net to provide insurance and a 3-1 lead. With 2:42 left in regulation, Colorado goaltender Jack Erickson was pulled off to add an extra attacker. Erickson barely made it over the bench when forward Roope

Tuomioksa quickly took advantage of an open net opportunity, scoring his second goal of the night. Just seconds later, the visitors notched their fifth tally when Brendan Coughlin went short side to score the final goal of Friday night’s game with 46 seconds remaining.