GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KKCO) - Colorado Mesa Hockey started their season with a statement in just their second game on the ice all together as a team.
The Mavs went on the road to tip off the season with a pair of games against one of the top ranked teams in the country, Air Force.
The Friday matchup did not go how CMU had hoped, with Air Force flexing their might to win 4-0, but CMU left with some valuable lessons learned.
"It's always tough to play those guys, but I mean, to start off, I mean we've only been a team for like a month, so to play them right off the hop, it's a good challenge. It's a good way to get our feet underneath us. The first game was rough. We came out slow, they took advantage of that," Defenseman and Assistant Captain Brayden Waire said, "I mean they're a good hockey team, so yeah."
"A lot of the guys took not the best penalties, and you know as a hockey team you can't really win a man down on the ice. So them capitalizing on the power play goals really affected us," Forward Marcus Ray said.
Round two with Air Force Saturday, the Mavs were the ones playing like a top-ranked team, showing how dominant their defense can be, especially with keeper John Hickam, heading into the third period 0-0, something had to break.
It was the Mavs getting the break when they scored their first goal of the season, and it was a big one.
Ray connected on a power play for the first score of the season, putting the Mavs up 1-0.
"We went into the offensive zone and puck kind of rimmed around, the guys battled for it an I was just sitting top of the slot and kind of saw the top corner, picked it and it ended up working out," Ray said.
After that CMU was able to put the victory on the ice on ice, after another goal from Mason Ripley and some stellar defense including Hickam's first career shutout.
"John (Hickam) kept us in the first game for sure. He stood on his head all the way up until the buzzer and that kept that game close. And then I got to give credit to our penalty kill. They came out with two big kills right after we scored in order to keep that a one goal game. I mean, and our defense just played insane that those that game to keep that big scoring team off the board was big," Waire said.
"It makes me really excited.Like I am glad to be here. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else," Ray said.
CMU Hockey has another road trip for three games in Arizona, before making their home opener Oct. 17 hosting UCCS.
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