The University of Wyoming hockey club returned from a six-week holiday break last weekend, beating Iowa State University and losing to Creighton University.
Graham Barrett (Colorado Springs, Colo.) scored a pair of power-play goals -- including the game winner at the 6:59 mark of the third period -- to boost the Cowboys to a 3-2 triumph Saturday night over the Cyclones.
After busing about 170 miles from Ames, Iowa, to Omaha, Neb., and sleeping but a few hours, UW fell 6-3 Sunday morning to the Bluejays despite two goals by Erik Blomberg (Parker, Colo.).
The Cowboys face a pair of pivotal games this weekend against the University of Colorado, the No. 3 team in the American Collegiate Hockey Association Division III Pacific Region. UW is ranked fourth.
The two teams face off at 5:15 p.m. Friday in Boulder, Colo., and at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Laramie Community Ice Arena. The Buffaloes are coming off a weekend sweep of Iowa State and Creighton.
"We need to come out strong against a tough opponent this weekend," Cowboys Coach Shawn Rockey says. "With them being ranked third and us fourth, there's going to be a real sense of urgency to win these two games."
At least UW's players will get a full night of sleep between games.
Following their hard-fought win over the Cyclones, the Cowboys only got about four hours of rest before taking the ice against the Bluejays.
"We just weren't ready to play," Rockey says. "The lack of sleep and all the travel made it really tough on us."
In an attempt to offset the loss of two key offensive players, Tad Bernet (Katy, Texas) and David Wells (Rock Springs), both of whom graduated following the fall semester, Rockey (Rock Springs) has become a player-coach this semester. He netted his first goal in a losing effort against Creighton.
Against Iowa State, Blomberg had a goal and an assist and Elliott Bauder (Douglas), Robert Kola (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Luke Walker (Jackson) recorded assists.
Posted on Wednesday, January 21, 2009
