COLORADO GRIT HOCKEY

Grit Win With Power Play Goals
Colorado 4, AMARILLO 2

The Grit bagged two power play goals, got a 35-save night from Jack Erickson, took the lead just over two minutes in and finished off a wire-to-wire 4-2 win over Amarillo on Saturday night. 
 
The power play keyed another strong start and got the Grit into the scoring column just over two minutes into the first period. Defenseman Bowen Burke fired a cross-ice pass to the edge of the crease; winger George Poirier deflected the puck underneath Amarillo goaltender Connor McDonough to spot the Grit to the lead, 1-0, just 3:28 into the first period.
 
Colorado’s power play doubled the lead, thanks to a friendly bounce from the arena boards. Chris Graves dumped the puck into the Wrangler zone to head off for line change. The puck ricocheted off a stanchion and sped towards the net, beating a stunned Connor McDonough to double the lead, 2-0, with 10:18 left in the first period. The fourth line connected for the Grit’s third tally with under three minutes to play. Wilder Jacober fed a pass from the left corner to the front of the netband Quinn Bowden tipped the puck past McDonough for a 3-0 Grit advantage. Colorado netminder Jack Erickson delivered 14 of his 35 saves to secure the Grit lead after twenty minutes.
 
The home side found the scoresheet for the first time midway through the second period. Rookie defenseman T.J. Richey sent a wrist shot from the left point that found its way past three bodies and Erickson with 6:40 to play in the second period to pull the Wranglers within two, 3-1.
 
Colorado weathered a flurry of opportunities in the middle frame and regained their three-goal lead right before the second intermission. Noah Grolnic bagged his twelfth goal with the Grit on a snapshot from the right wing faceoff circle and beat McDonough and provided insurance, 4-1, with 1:28 left in the period.
 
Amarillo pulled back within a pair early in the third period. Roman Zap found space in the high slot and lobbed a wrist shot past Erickson’s right pad to bring the Wranglers back into the game, 4-2 with 13:26 left to play. 
 
The Grit penalty kill continued its run of fine form late in the third period to secure the win. Defenseman Will Hadrick III took umbrage when Amarillo forward Jack McDonald hacked at the legs of a Grit forward and the pair squared off and exchanged blows. Hadrick III was given a major and match penalty after the dust up to give Amarillo a power play with 2:28 remaining.
 
Colorado’s penalty kill finished a perfect 3-for-3 and salted away the final seconds to help Colorado secure the victory.
 
GAME SUMMARY
 
Scoring 
1st Period – COL – Poirier (Burke, Grolnic) – 3:48
1st Period – COL – Graves – 9:22
1st Period – COL – Bowden (Jacober) – 17:25
2nd Period – AMA – Richey (Zap) – 13:20
2nd Period – COL – Grolnic – 18:32
3rd Period – AMA – Zap (Puikkonen, McNaughton) – 6:34
 
Shots:
COL: 29 AMA: 37
 
Special Teams:
PP – COL: 2/4 AMA: 0/3
PK – COL: 3/3 AMA: 2/4
 
Notable Performances
J. Erickson (COL) – 35 svs
Q. Bowden (COL) – 1 G, GWG
N.Grolnic (COL) – 1 G, 1 A

FRIDAY – AMARILLO 4, Colorado 3

Defenseman Braden Junker’s 1st career goal highlighted a fast start although the Grit’s comeback effort came up just short on Friday night as Colorado fell in Amarillo 4-3.

The Grit stormed out to a fast start behind a pair of early tallies. Colorado went to the power play just ninety seconds into the first period and promptly converted. Center Landon West found space in the high slot and pumped a wrist shot past Amarillo goaltender Connor McDonough to push the Grit ahead, 1-0, 2:25 into the period.

Rapid fire offense from defenseman Braden Junker doubled the Colorado lead, 2-0, only 24 seconds later. The defenseman’s first career goal came on a seeing-eye shot from the right point to beat McDonough. Grit goaltender Jack Erickson nabbed 14 of his 25 saves to help Colorado carry the 2-0 lead into the intermission.

The Wranglers struck back quickly in the second period through winger Jack McDonald to get the home side on the scoreboard, 2-1, 1:37 into the second period. The wrist shot from the bottom of the wing circle marked the only shot to beat Erickson through 40 minutes. Colorado weathered a late surge in the final two minutes of the second period and retained their one goal advantage into the second intermission.

For the third period running, scoring carried the day in the period’s opening minutes. Wrangler forward Magnus Gadowsky found freedom on the left post and punched a cross-crease pass into the back of the net to tie The game, 2-2, with 17:25 remaining in the frame. 

The scoreline stayed tied until a Jack Ivey one-timer slapshot from the top of the right circle was powered past Erickson to give Amarillo their first lead of the night, 3-2, with 13:00 left in regulation.

The Grit kept battling and found an equalizer, thanks to outstanding hustle and a deft scoring touch from the third line. In order to clear the defensive zone, Grit forward Peyton Miller batted the puck around a Wrangler defenseman and chased it the length of the ice. Meanwhile, rookie Sheldon Rioux glided into the slot alongside Miller, who connected with a diving pass for a Rioux redirection. The second goal of the season for Rioux knotted the score once again, 3-3, with 5:10 remaining in the third period.

A heated exchange on the boards in between the two benches between Noah Grolnic and Amarillo forward Roman Zap escalated to a brawl, with both players trading punches and being sent to the dressing room early for fighting majors. At the end of the fracas, Grolnic was assessed an additional roughing minor and Amarillo took to the power play for the second time in the game with only 3:20 remaining. Ben Ivey made the man advantage count when he pumped a slap shot over Erickson’s blocker and into the back of the net to give the home side the lead, 4-3, with 2:55 left to play. The Grit’s final push netted them a pair of shots in the final minute against McDonough, but the final buzzer sounded as the Wranglers hung on for the one-goal victory.

GAME SUMMARY

Scoring

1st Period – COL – West (Gudridge, Burke) – 2:31

1st Period – COL – Junker (Cooke, Carter) – 2:55

2nd Period – AMA – McDonald – 1:37

3rd Period – AMA – Gadowsky (Semeniuk, Morris) – 2:25

3rd Period – AMA – J. Ivey (B. Ivey, Gagnon) – 13:00

3rd Period – COL – Rioux (Miller) – 14:50

3rd Period – AMA – B. Ivey (J. Ivey, Gagnon) – 17:03

 

Shots:

COL: 26 AMA: 29

 

Special Teams

PP – COL: 1/2 AMA: 1/2

PK – COL: 1/2 AMA: 1/2

 

Notable Performances

B. Junker (COL) – 1 G, 0 A – 1st career goal

B. Ivey (AMA) – 1 G, 1 A

N. Gagnon (AMA) – 0 G, 2 A

SUNDAY – EL PASO 5, Colorado 2

A fast start for the Grit and a season best from goaltender Aden Gariepy were wiped out by a pivotal goal reversal in the second period as El Paso scored four unanswered goals in the middle frame en route to a 5-2 victory over Colorado on Sunday night.

Colorado hit the front foot just 1:35 into the first period, thanks to Noah Grolnic. Grolnic’s wrist shot from the right point skipped off a Rhino stick and burrowed into the back of the net past Rhino netminder Joe LoVullo. The tally was Grolnic’s team-leading 17th goal of the season and gave the Grit the advantage, 1-0. Defenseman Will Hadrick III stayed red hot and helped the Grit double their lead midway through the period. Just like Friday night, a rebound opportunity was scooped up and punched into the back of the net, beating a prone LoVullo, and giving Colorado a 2-0 lead with 7:48 to play in the first period.

Early in the second period, the game was flipped on its head over the course of eight minutes. With 16:25 to go in the middle stanza, Rhino forward Mason LeBel rifled a shot past the glove of Colorado goaltender Aden Gariepy, appearing to kick off the crossbar. The goal light came on briefly and play continued. 40 seconds later, Grit defenseman Jordan Gudridge snapped a wrist shot past LoVullo from the left point to give the Grit a 3-0 advantage with 15:45 to go in the period.

However, since the goal was the first stoppage since LeBel’s effort, the officials got together to review the situation. After a 10-minute review, the officials ruled that LeBel’s effort had indeed found the back of the net, thereby nullifying Gudridge’s goal, and the scoreline stood 2-1 with 16:20 left in the period. From there, the Rhinos surged forward with a string of three more unanswered goals to turn the scoreline around.

A fortuitous bounce found Frank Tafelski’s stick in the high slot and he slipped the puck past Gariepy to tie the score, 2-2, with 11:15 to go in the period. Minutes later, the El Paso first line connected on a redirect from Ritter Coombs to give the Rhinos their first lead of the night, 3-2, with 8:50 remaining in the second frame. Defenseman Alexandre Pellerin sniped a wrist shot from the edge of the right circle to double the El Paso advantage, 4-2, with just 32 seconds remaining and gave the home side the two-goal advantage into the second intermission.

The Grit clamped down defensively in the third period; two perfect penalty kills and nine more saves from Gariepy, who finished with a season-high 36 saves, gave the Colorado offense an opportunity for a comeback bid.

Colorado found a two-man advantage with five minutes remaining and picked up a pair of shots on goal from Bowen Burke and George Poirier. The advantage was nullified by a tripping penalty assessed to Poirier with 3:57 to play; the Grit rookie pleaded his case to the officials and wound up with a match misconduct penalty in the process. The early exits were just beginning for Colorado.

With ninety seconds to play, defenseman Hunter Cooke squared up with his counterpart Brendan Coughlin in front of the Grit bench. The 20-year old defenseman pancaked Coughlin to the ice with a grapple and a punch, drawing stick taps from his teammates and an escort to the dressing room. At the end of the sequence, Gudridge was also disqualified from the game and Colorado finished the final ninety seconds with just 14 available skaters.

GAME SUMMARY

Scoring

1st Period – COL – Grolnic (Carter, Poirier) 1:34

1st Period – COL – Hadrick III (Carter, Poirier) 12:13

2nd Period – ELP – LeBel (Lindsay, Mathys) 3:39

2nd Period – ELP – Tafelski (Bolduc, Arias) 8:44

2nd Period – ELP – Coombs (Bajzer, Hiltunen) 11:09

2nd Period – ELP – Pellerin (Bajzer, Lund) 19:28

3rd Period – ELP – Lund (LeBel, Lindsay) 12:54

 

Shots

COL: 23 ELP: 41

 

Special Teams

PP – COL: 0/4 ELP: 1/5

PK – COL: 4/5 ELP: 4/4

 

Notable Performances

A. Gariepy (COL) – 36 saves

G. Poirier (COL) – 0 G, 2 A

C. Carter (COL) 0 G, 2 A

M. LeBel (ELP) – 1 G, 1 A

SATURDAY – EL PASO 5, Colorado 3

The Grit grabbed the lead twice in the second period, but were unable to overcome a late El Paso surge and fell 5-3 on the road Saturday night.

5:35 into the first period, the Rhinos grabbed the lead, 1-0, after El Paso forward Mason LeBel snapped a shot past the Glove of Grit goaltender Jack Erickson and set off an avalanche of Teddy Bears tossed onto the ice. 

After the delay, the Grit found their footing. Marek Thompson walked into space in the high slot and powered a wrist shot on goal; Rhino netminder Michael Manzi swallowed up the effort for one of his 23 saves.

Like the third period Friday night, Colorado used a timely forecheck and hustle to tie the game. Peyton Miller chased down a loose puck behind the El Paso net and drove to the front of the net. After a first stop from Manzi, Chris Graves punched the rebound past the El Paso netminder. His fifth goal of the year tied the game, 1-1, with 3:15 left in the first period.

Colorado grabbed an early advantage in the second period. The Grit’s second line created a carbon copy goal of the first tally. With 15:12 to go, a Tomas Vlcek dump-in allowed Wilder Jacober to chase the puck down behind the Rhino net. Jacober pushed the puck in front off Manzi’s right pad and Brayden Fryfogle shoved the rebound in to give the Grit the lead, 2-1. 

El Paso equalized through Bradley Walker; the forward won a left wing face off forward, powered the puck towards the Colorado goal crease, and slipped it underneath Erickson’s right pad to knot the score, 2-2, just two minutes after the Grit took the lead.

Fryfogle then grabbed his second goal of the period and fifth of the year with 9:47 to play in the period. Trailing the play in the right wing circle, the winger received a pass from Vlcek and blistered a slap shot past Manzi to give the Grit the lead a second time, 3-2.

The Rhinos struck again, thanks to an unfortunate bounce falling right to Kyle Arias. After Bowen Burke interrupted a pass at the blue line, the puck slipped past him to Arias. The rookie barreled to the net and lofted a wrist shot past Erickson into the top corner and tied the contest, 3-3, with 8:03 to play in the second period.

Midway through the third period, the Grit were hit with a double minor penalty for high sticking after George Poirier clipped AJ Reed while playing a loose puck; it was just the second penalty of the night and gave El Paso a power play with 13:08 to go.

The Rhinos wasted no time on the chance; it took twenty seconds into the power play to take the lead. Tory Lund shook loose in front and batted a cross-crease pass into the back of the net to give El Paso a 4-3 advantage with 12:48 to play in regulation. The push continued when Walker redirected a shot from the point past Erickson to double the El Paso lead, 5-3, with 10:20 remaining in the game.

For the second night running, the Grit continued to push late, outshooting the Rhinos 9-7 in the third period. With 2:11 remaining, Colorado got a late power play and pulled Erickson for the extra attacker. Both Noah Grolnic and Fryfogle each fired a shot that Manzi blocked aside as the Rhinos ran out the clock to secure the win.

GAME SUMMARY

Scoring

1st Period – ELP – LeBel – 5:15

1st Period – COL – Graves (Miller) – 16:44

2nd Period – COL – Fryfogle (Vlcek, Jacober) – 4:48

2nd Period – ELP – Walker (LeBel) – 6:51

2nd Period – COL – Fryfogle (Vlcek, Burke) – 10:13

2nd Period – ELP – Arias (Coughlin, Mathys) – 11:57

3rd Period – ELP – Lund (Bolduc, Hiltunen) – 7:12

3rd Period – ELP – Walker (Zarsky) – 9:40

 

Shots:

COL: 26 ELP: 30

 

Special Teams

PP – COL: 0/2 ELP: 1/2

PK – COL: 1/2 ELP: 2/2

 

Notable Performances

B. Fryfogle (COL) – 2 G, 0 A

T. Vlcek (COL) – 0 G, 2 A

B. Walker (ELP) 2 G, 0 A

FRIDAY – EL PASO 3, Colorado 2

Two goals in the third period and a late comeback effort brought the Grit back into the game, but Colorado’s effort fell just short on Friday night as they dropped a 3-2 thriller to the El Paso Rhinos on Friday night. 

The Grit controlled the opening twenty minutes, outshooting and outchancing the Rhinos 8-4 in the opening frame. The newly constructed line of Brayden Fryfogle, Lukas Mann, and Tomas Vlcek had the lion’s share of the opportunities in the first period. With 11:48 to go in the period, Vlcek rifled a shot from the edge of the right circle that forced a kick save from El Paso goaltener Michael Manzi, who finished with 22 saves. The effort was the highlight of a three-minute stretch where the Grit hemmed El Paso into the defensive zone after a Grit power play came up empty. 

In the opening minutes of the second period, Colorado had their best scoring opportunity after winger Brayden Fryfogle drew a hooking penalty that resulted in a penalty shot with 17:45 to play in the frame. Fryfogle tried to deke to the forehand past Manzi, but had the puck roll off his stick at the edge of the crease, keeping the score 0-0.

The Rhinos would take advantage of the deadlock with two rapid fire goals midway through the second period. A snapshot from El Paso forward Medrick Bolduc blistered the cross bar and beat Colorado netminder Jack Erickson to give the Rhinos a 1-0 lead with 10:21 to play in the period. Only a half minute later, Rhino blueline Tristan Zarsky walked in from the right point and ripped a wrist shot past the glove of Erickson to double the advantage, 2-0, with 9:49 to play in the second period. Those were the only fireworks in the second period until the final seconds of the period when rookie Sheldon Rioux was checked into the Rhino bench. The crunching hit was a coda for a dominant second period for El Paso, who led 2-0 into the intermission.

The Grit responded immediately to open the third period, climbing back into the game courtesy of defenseman Will Hadrick III. Hadrick III’s second goal of the year came after he forced a turnover behind the Rhino net and shoveled the puck past Manzi to get the Grit on the board, 2-1, just 1:43 into the third period. Colorado leveled the score midway through the third, thanks to red-hot Noah Grolnic. The midseason acquisition snapped a wrist shot through a screen past a bewildered Manzi and tied the game, 2-2, with 10:43 to play in regulation.

A fortunate bounce allowed the home side to take the lead for good minutes later. After Erickson made one of his 31 saves, Hadrick III slid down to block a rebound for good measure. The puck fell right to El Paso forward Ryan Gingher at the bottom of the left circle; the knuckling third effort fluttered over Erickson’s glove and into the back of the net, making it 3-2, with 7:30 to play.

The Grit continued fighting until the final buzzer, despite playing the final 2:07 of the game while shorthanded. After another strong penalty kill, Colorado surged up the ice with 40 seconds to play in search of an equalizer. The Grit were able to pull Erickson and get back to even strength, getting one final wrist shot from George Poirier. The rebound was kicked into the corner where the Rhinos held it until the final buzzer sounded.

GAME SUMMARY

Scoring

2nd Period – ELP – M. Bolduc (Bazjer, Mathys) 9:39

2nd Period – ELP – T. Zarsky (Bajzer, Bolduc) 10:11

3rd Period – COL – W. Hadrick III 1:43

3rd Period – COL – N. Grolnic (Poirier, Hadrick III) 9:43 

3rd Period – ELP – R. Gingher (Triggs, Mathys) 12:29

 

Shots

Colorado: 24 El Paso: 34

Special Teams

PP: Colorado: 0/1 El Paso: 0/4

PK: Colorado 4/4 El Paso 1/1


Notable Performances

J. Erickson (COL) – 31 saves

W. Hadrick (COL) – 1 G, 1 A

M. Bolduc (ELP) – 1 G, 1 A

T. Mathys (ELP) – 0 G, 2 A

SATURDAY – New Mexico 3, COLORADO 2

Defenseman Alex German collected a second multi-goal game in two weekends as the Grit dropped their 2023-24 home finale in heartbreaking fashion, falling 3-2 in overtime to the New Mexico Ice Wolves. After receiving a pass from Grit winger Chris Graves, German got the goal scoring started midway through the first period. German raced down the right wing, used a cut move to split two New Mexico defenders, and powered a shot past Ice Wolve goaltender Andy Vlaha to give Colorado a 1-0 lead with 10:33 to play in the first period. The goal would hold up as the only tally in a first period in which Grit goaltender Jack Erickson made eight of his 34 saves while a 1-0 Grit lead carried into the first intermission.

Similarly, the second period featured just one tally. However, this came off the stick of New Mexico forward Rasmus Leijonhelm. After the Ice Wolve forecheck forced a turnover, the puck squirted loose in the top of the crease. Erickson was able to make an initial pad save, but Leijonhelm slotted the puck past the left pad and into the back of the net to tie the game, 1-1, with 4:11 gone in the second period. The New Mexico goal occurred between three Grit penalties, including a major unsportsmanlike misconduct penalty to Jordan Gudridge. After a tough showing on Friday night, the Grit penalty kill bowed up to stop New Mexico twice in the middle frame and finished the night a perfect 4-for-4. 

The third period got off to a fast start for the visitors who grabbed their first lead of the period. Under two minutes into the third period, Ryan Seelinger fed a cross-ice pass from the right wing into the slot and Ethan Hull redirected the pass over the glove of Erickson and into the back of the net. Hull’s goal pushed the visitors ahead, 2-1, with 18:12 remaining in the third period. Colorado responded immediately, thanks to German and the power play unit. After George Poirier was hauled down by Jordan Tacheny’s stick, the Grit made their fourth power play of the afternoon count.

After receiving a rinkwide pass from Landon West, German found a pocket of space from the left point, glided to the top of the left circle, and punched a wrist shot past the glove of Vlaha to tie the game, 2-2, with 16:01 left in regulation. The final five minutes of regulation became a parade to the penalty box; four penalties were whistled and gave the Grit an abbreviated power play to start overtime.

Hunting for their first overtime victory of the season, the Grit pushed a pair of shots at Vlaha, who finished with 35 saves, before New Mexico got back to full strength with a minute gone in overtime. With 2:55 remaining in overtime, Dillion Kuntz flipped a shot at Erickson and a rebound fell loose in front of the Grit crease. Seelinger’s first effort was kicked aside, but Olivier Lamothe lobbed the third effort into the back of the net to seal the extra point for New Mexico.

Colorado is back in action on the road in El Paso on Friday night at 7:00 pm at the El Paso County Events Center.