Mar 22, 2024 | Archived
Milestone goals for Quinn Bowden and Sheldon Rioux brightened the night for the Grit, but they were unable to overcome three shorthanded goals from the visiting New Mexico Ice Wolves and fell 6-3 on Friday night at the Greeley Ice Haus. 8:45 into the first period, the Ice Wolves started the scoring with a booming slap shot from Dillion Kuntz. The clapper pinged off the crossbar and into the back of the net past Grit netminder Aden Gariepy to give New Mexico a 1-0 lead. Barely a minute later, Colorado had tied things back up. Wilder Jacober took advantage of a stumbling New Mexico defender to start a 3-on-1 down the left wing; Jacober slid the puck to the front of the net and Quinn Bowden punched the loose change past Ice Wolve goalie Jackson Fuller for his first career NAHL goal and tied the game 1-1 with 10:12 remaining in the first period. Late in the first period, Christian Carter threw a heavy shoulder check on Ice Wolve forward Yusaku Ando; the hit left Ando bloodied and forced to exit the game while New Mexico went to the power play.
Ty Tuccitto took advantage of a helpful bounce off the end glass from an off-the-mark effort to power a wrist shot past Gareipy and give New Mexico a 2-1 lead with 4:37 to go in the first period.
A tripping penalty as time expired in the first period allowed the Grit to start the second period on the power play. However, it was New Mexico that converted when Ryan Seelinger finished off a breakaway by beating a prone Gariepy to push New Mexico in front, 3-1, just 1:12 into the second period. The Grit returned to the power play after Christian Carter was retaliated against for a hit he threw in the first period; Carter absorbed multiple punches from Ice Wolve forward Johnny Johansson before the officials intervened. Johansson was issued a game misconduct and the Grit got a major power play in return.
For the second time in as many power plays, a shorthanded breakaway proved to be Colorado’s undoing. Ethan Hull picked off a cross-ice pass, raced the other direction, and slipped a snap shot past Gariepy’s right pad to expand New Mexico’s lead, 4-1, with 15:13 to go in the second period. The goal led to Jack Erickson entering the game in relief between the pipes. The Grit found an immediate response from rookie Sheldon Rioux. Rioux popped the bottle with a one-timer for his first career goal and pulled the Grit back within two, 4-2 just 5:33 into the second period.
The Ice Wolves struck short-handed for the third time in the game early in the third period. Graham Harris raced coast-to-coast, sidestepped a Grit defender, and ripped a shot over Erickson’s blocker to push the lead back to three, 5-2, with 13:31 to play in regulation. For the third time in three periods, the Grit’s response was swift.
Tomas Vlcek tipped a rebound past Fuller for his eighth goal of the year under 90 seconds later to pull Colorado back into the game, 5-3, with 12:15 to go in the third period. The deficit stayed at two until a late Rasmus Leijonhelm tap-in on the right wing post put the game to bed, 6-3, with 3:28 to play in regulation.
Mar 17, 2024 | Archived
Noah Grolnic grabbed his third goal in two games, but Colorado’s early lead vanished after four unanswered Wrangler goals, as the visitors knocked off the Grit 5-2 at the Greeley Ice Haus Sunday afternoon.
For the third day running, the Wranglers got off to a fast start behind Connor McNaughton. The Wrangler forward redirected a rinkwide pass from Roman Zap past Grit goaltender Aden Gariepy and gave the visitors the 1-0 lead within 90 seconds. Young forward Nolan Shaw brought energy back into the building after his authoritative tilt against Grayson Gerhard ended with Shaw pancaking Gerhard onto the ice. The forward egged on the crowd as he headed to the dressing room, drawing cheers from the crowd of over 500 with 15:34 to go in the first period.
Colorado then leveled the score on a backhand finish to a breakaway from Brayden Fryfogle; the fourth-year vet grabbed his third goal of the season to tie the game 1-1 with 14:28 remaining in the first period. With 5:27 to go in the first period, Grolnic’s fifteenth goal of the year was a carbon copy of his tally on Saturday; a screened wrist shot from the right circle left Amarillo netminder Connor McDonough no chance to make the save, and the Grit grabbed a 2-1 lead headed into the first intermission.
A bad line change early in the second period cost the Grit their lead. Wrangler center Jack Ivey snuck behind the Grit defense and converted on a breakaway from the blue line, lifting the puck past Gariepy and tying the game 2-2 with 18:36 to play in the second period. An unfortunate bounce allowed Amarillo to take their second lead of the game; a slapshot from the point was blocked by Alex German and the carom bounced directly to the tape of Amarillo forward Jack McDonald. McDonald pumped the puck past Gariepy to give the Wranglers a 3-2 lead with 11:29 left in the second period.
For the third consecutive period, the visitors got onto the scoresheet early. A cross-ice pass to the right wing found the stick of Jack Ivey, who roofed a wrist shot over a sliding Gariepy to extend the Wranglers’ advantage, 4-2, only 1:11 into the third period. The Grit continued to pepper McDonough, finishing with 38 shots, but were unable to find the back of the net and close the gap. Instead, the Wranglers found more insurance on a Grit giveaway at their own blue line. Morley Phillips took advantage of the loose puck and delivered the knockout blow, a wrist shot through the five-hole on Gariepy to open the Wrangler lead to 5-2 with 6:26 to play in the period.
Mar 16, 2024 | Archived
A milestone night for Alex German and a dominant second period weren’t enough to get the Grit back in the win column, dropping an 8-4 decision to the visiting Wranglers on Saturday afternoon at the Greeley Ice Haus.
Wrangler defenseman Nolan Gagnon got the scoring started, thanks to a coast-to-coast attack that culminated in a powerful wrist shot past Grit goaltender Jack Erickson, to give Amarillo the 1-0 lead with just 2:27 gone in the first period. A tic-tac-toe passing play found the trailing Jacob Miller on the left wing just 41 seconds later, who fired the puck into the back of the net to give the Wranglers a 2-0 advantage. Colorado’s response was immediate through defenseman Alex German. German accelerated out of his own zone, sped by three Amarillo players, and potted his fifth goal of the year past Amarillo goaltender Andrew Peterson, to make it 2-1 with 14:55 left in the first period. The Wranglers tacked on two goals later in the period, thanks to Connor McNaughton and Jack McDonald, and glided into the first intermission with a 4-1 advantage over the home side.
At the start of the second period, Colorado again began to climb the comeback mountain. German grabbed his second tally of the afternoon, along with his first multi-goal game of his career, by snapping a shot past Peterson from the low slot to make the score 4-2 with 19:05 left in the second period. Despite outshooting the Wranglers 14-3 in the middle frame, the Grit were unable to gain any ground at the end of forty minutes. Luke Morris squeezed a shot between Erickson and the left wing post to restore a three-goal lead for the visitors, 5-2, with 10:37 to go in the second period.
The third period brought another Grit push back into the proceedings. With 16:45 to play in the third, forward George Poirier barreled down the right wing and powered a shot off the right pad of Peterson; the rebound kicked right to Noah Grolnic who gladly pushed the biscuit into the basket to make the scoreline 5-3. Barely two minutes later, the Wranglers responded through Grayson Gerhard to once again stretch the lead back to three, 6-3, with 14:32 to play. Grolnic wasn’t done scoring, however, lifting a screened wrist shot from the right wing faceoff circle and pulling the Grit back within two, 6-4, with 7:57 left. Two late goals from Henry McRoberts and Jack Ivey would stall the comeback effort for the Grit, swelling Amarillo’s lead to 8-4 as the final buzzer sounded.
Mar 15, 2024 | Archived
The Grit couldn’t overcome a slow start in the first period, falling behind the visiting Amarillo Wranglers 2-0, before eventually dropping Friday night’s contest, 5-1, at the Greeley Ice Haus.
Amarillo’s first power play goal came off a fortuitous bounce for forward Connor McNaughton. A slap shot from the right point was stopped by Grit goaltender Pete Sterling with the left pad, caromed off the end glass, and back to the crease. McNaughton’s third effort at jamming the rebound home gave Amarillo a power play goal and 1-0 lead with 10:49 left in the 1st period.
The visitors doubled the lead shortly before the first intermission when forward Ben Ivey’s wrist shot from the right wing faceoff circle snuck through Sterling and into the back of the net with 47 seconds remaining in the period; Amarillo took a 2-0 lead into the first intermission.
The Wranglers used the power play for the second time in two periods to expand their advantage. A back door pass found Ben Ivey on the left wing post; Ivey slipped the puck past Sterling to open up a 3-0 lead with 13:56 in the 2nd period. Just over a minute later, a cross-seam pass found trailing forward Luke Morris, who rifled a wrist shot in the top corner past Sterling. The 4-0 deficit with 12:45 left in the second period spelled an end to Sterling’s night, making way for Jack Erickson.
Colorado found a spark to start the third period, thanks to rookie Lukas Mann. In just his fourth junior game, Mann cleaned up a loose puck at the edge of the crease and punched in the Grit’s first goal of the game just 32 seconds into the third period. The Grit then marched onto the power play after Wrangler defenseman TJ Richey took a high-sticking penalty. Colorado created three shots, part of a third period where they outshot Amarillo 13-6, but were unable to convert and finished 0-for-4 on the power play. Their fourth power play came with under four minutes to play and Colorado pulled the goaltender to jump start their offense. Moments after getting back to full strength, Morley Phillips iced the game for Amarillo by banking a shot off of Grit defenseman Jordan Gudridge to make it 5-1 with 2:27 to play.
Feb 25, 2024 | Archived
Rookie Landon West grabbed his first career multi-goal game to end the road trip, but the Grit were unable to outlast El Paso, defeated 5-2 by the Rhinos on Sunday afternoon.
In a change of fortune from the previous two games, it was the opponent who got the scoring started. El Paso forward Camden Bajzer was able to sneak a low backhander past Grit goaltender Pete Sterling to spot El Paso to a 1-0 lead only 2:08 into the game.
As the first period drew to a close, forward Landon West intercepted a neutral turnover and rifled a wrist shot from the edge of the left wing circle to score his fourth goal of the year, going high glove side over LoVullo. The shot tied the game at 1-1 with just 42 seconds left in the first period.
Colorado grabbed their first lead of the afternoon, thanks to a carbon copy West goal with 10:36 to play in the second period. West put the finishing touch on his first career multi-goal game, intercepting a rinkwide pass in the El Paso zone and lifting a backhanded shot to beat LoVullo high glove side again. His fifth goal of the year propelled Colorado in front, 2-1.
However, the advantage lasted just 30 seconds as Colorado again fell victim to an unfortunate carom. A loose puck knocked off the endboards behind Grit goaltender Pete Sterling, who made 21 saves on 25 shots, bounced right to the high slot and onto the tape of Rhino forward Mason LeBel, who slotted the puck past Sterling to tie the game at 2.
LeBel’s equalizer marked the beginning of three unanswered Rhino goals; punctuated by Tory Lund’s power move to the front of the net late in the second period. Lund jammed the puck past Sterling’s glove to give El Paso a 4-2 lead with just 47 seconds remaining in the second period, providing the home side with insurance before the second intermission.
Barely 90 seconds into the third period, veteran leader Peyton Miller tried to jumpstart the Grit bench; Miller duked it out with Bradley Walker in the Grit offensive zone in a minute-long fight that saw both players sustain some heavy hits. The pair of combatants left for their respective boxes to a chorus of stick banging and appreciation from their teammates.
The fight jump started the Grit offense, which managed two scoring opportunities and a power play within the opening five minutes of the third period. Winger Noah Grolnic just missed the net on a back-door feed, inches away from bringing the Grit back within a goal with 15:30 to go in regulation.
Chasing a two-goal deficit with under five minutes to go, head coach Steve Haddon pulled goaltender Pete Sterling for the extra attacker to jump start the Grit offense. The ensuing faceoff was won by the Rhinos and forward Medrick Bolduc flipped the puck into the empty net from his own blue line, despite a valiant diving effort from Grit defenseman Will Hadrick III to keep it out.
With 4:13 to play in regulation, the goal opened a 5-2 El Paso advantage. Rookie Nolan Shaw and winger Quinn Bowden each had a shot in the final minute, trying to best El Paso goaltender Joe LoVullo, but both goal scoring opportunities were parried away with the right pad.
Colorado is back in action on the road this weekend as they travel to Corpus Christi for a two-game series beginning on Friday, March 1st.
Feb 24, 2024 | Archived
For the second straight game, the Grit grabbed the early lead but were unable to overcome four unanswered Lone Star goals in the second and third period, falling 5-2 at the NYTEX Sports Center in North Richland Hills on Saturday night.
Colorado’s early goal scoring habits continued thanks to rookie Tomas Vlcek; the winger grabbed his sixth goal of the season on a redirection in the high slot and the Grit had the 1-0 advantage within 90 seconds. The Brahmas tied the game thanks to a power play goal from rookie Owen Kerr, managing a redirection of his own below the left wing hash mark, knotting the score 1-1 with 7:57 to play in the period. Right before the horn sounded for the first intermission, Grit winger Brayden Fryfogle converted on the power play and buried a wrist shot past Deivs Rolovs, giving Colorado a 2-1 lead with five seconds to go in the first period.
The Brahmas jumped into high gear right away in the second period; Jacob MacDonald took advantage of a short handed breakaway and pumped a wrist shot past Colorado netminder Jack Erickson to tie the score, 2-2, just 1:37 into the middle frame.
A fortuitous bounce off the linesmen sent the puck caroming into the high slot; defenseman Zach Rizzo took advantage and fired a wrist shot off Erickson’s glove that trickled into the net to give the Brahmas their first lead of the game, 3-2, with 11:28 to play in the second period.
Colorado had two power play opportunities within five minutes; one at the tail end of the second period and one on fresh ice to begin the third period. Despite four shots, the Grit were unable to crack Rolovs, who finished 25 saves on 27 shots, and continued chasing a one-goal deficit.
The missed man advantage opportunities came back to hurt the Grit as with exactly 10:00 remaining in the third period, Owen Kerr notched his second goal in as many nights. Kerr forced a turnover at the Grit blue line and beat the sliding Jack Erickson with a backhander to make the score 4-2 in favor of Lone Star.
The Grit pulled the goaltender with roughly a minute to go to try and jumpstart the offense, but Lone Star forward Brock James dumped the puck into the empty net, making it 5-2, with 59 seconds to play. The fireworks were just starting though.
Moments later, Colorado defenseman Hunter Cooke tangled with a Brahma forward in front of the Grit bench. The two grappled and exchanged shoves while the linesman separated the pair; meanwhile, Tomas Vlcek was involved in his own fisticuffs at center ice. Vlcek gave and received a few shots with Brahma defenseman Charlie Emmons and all four players were given game misconducts before the final buzzer sounded 50 seconds later.
