Colorado College freshman Hunter Fejes scored what he called the “biggest goal of my life” when he tallied with 10.5 seconds left to lift the Tigers past rival Denver in a 6-5 overtime thriller Saturday night.<\/p>\n
“I looked up and saw 22 seconds were left, so I knew I had to do something,” Fejes said. “[The Denver defender] was looking to pass, so I just lifted his stick. It’s pretty special to do this against Denver.”<\/p>\n
Fejes took two strides to his left, stopped and fired a shot from between the circles that beat Denver goalie Juho Olkinuora inside the near post glove side to make most of the standing-room-only crowd of 7,750 fans at Colorado Springs World Arena jump to their feet in celebration and the Tigers leaping onto the ice in celebration.<\/p>\n
“It’s very nice to see the younger kids emerge,” said Tigers’ coach Scott Owens about Fejes’ two goals and an assist. “I am happy for the fans who have stuck with a 10-14 team. They got their money’s worth tonight.<\/p>\n
“All in all, this team deserved it tonight. It’s a big two points.”<\/p>\n
The win pushes CC up into eighth place, five points behind Denver, No. 11 Minnesota State and No. 19 Wisconsin, who are tied for fifth.<\/p>\n
It was fitting that no lead was truly safe in this rivalry series.<\/p>\n
The host Tigers took a 5-2 lead with 6:05 left only to see the No. 9 Pioneers score three goals in a 3:18 span to tie the game at 5-5 after CC junior Alexander Krushelnyski scored on a breakaway at 13:55 for what looked to be the game-clinching score.<\/p>\n
While Krushelnyski’s goal was being announced, DU’s Larkin Jacobson scored an unassisted goal five seconds later to make it 5-3. Denver’s Joey LaLeggia tallied on a slow wrister through traffic 67 ticks later to make it 5-4. Denver (15-9-5, 10-7-5 WCHA) then tied it with 2:42 remaining on a goal by Zac Larraza.<\/p>\n
In 198 seconds, a CC rout became a huge Denver comeback and the fourth overtime game (1-0-3) in a row for the Tigers (11-14-5, 8-10-4).<\/p>\n
“I am really glad for Joe Howe, because even though he gave up five goals, he ended up with the ‘W,'” Owens said.<\/p>\n
The DU rally negated a big second period when Colorado College scored four in one period for the first time this season to rally from down 2-0 and take a 4-2 lead into the third.<\/p>\n
Three of the four goals came from the point with CC senior captain William Rapuzzi playing a role in the final three.<\/p>\n
Rapuzzi assisted the tying and go-ahead goals (Fejes, Joe Marciano) and then screened Olkinuora on Mike Boivin’s score, his 13th of the season, to stake the Tigers to the two-goal lead.<\/p>\n
CC junior wing Archie Skalbeck jump-started the Tigers and energized the crowd when he snapped a wrister inside the post as he skated across the point. That made it 2-1 and the added energy led to a Denver penalty 15 seconds later.<\/p>\n
The CC power play generated three quality chances, but could not convert.<\/p>\n
The game settled down for a few minutes until Rapuzzi made a strong crossing pass to Fejes, who redirected the pass top shelf to beat Olkinuora to tie the game at 2-2 midway through the second period. Rapuzzi’s pass from the opposite post caught Olkinuora a half-second slow sliding over for Fejes’ shot.<\/p>\n
Rapuzzi then set up Marciano’s goal, a shot from just inside the blue line that beat Olkinuora glove side to the roar of the crowd. Boivin then scored from the same area to make it 4-2.<\/p>\n
Denver had seized control early with Nick Shore rifling a shot over Howe’s left shoulder less than five minutes into the game.<\/p>\n
Colorado College has taken a 1-0 lead only 10 times out of 30 games so far this season.<\/p>\n
DU made it 2-0 when Ty Loney redirected a shot by LaLeggia only moments into a power play with 8:44 left in the opening period.<\/p>\n
The Tigers had their chances with three grade-A chances missed, either with a missed redirect or pass through the crease that went through untouched. Olkinuora also made two good saves early in the period to keep the game scoreless for a time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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