Saturday, Feb 23, 2019

By Bethany Drysdale

Boulder, Colorado – Day Three of UNLV’s Colorado road trip would be the fourth and final matchup against Colorado University Buffaloes. Taking the ice at the Boulder Recreational Center the Rebels looked to put the series away with another win. Coming into this game UNLV had scored 19 goals against the Buffs. Senior Captain Cody Williams was sitting on 99 career goals going into this game, looking for his 100th. The Buffaloes came out stronger in the first period with their starting goalie returning for this game after serving a suspension previously for violating team rules. UNLV goalie Ben Giesbrecht was tested 16 times in the first, stopping every shot on goal. After seventeen minutes of play, Joe Kaszupski and Tristan Mayer went 2 on 2, with Kaszupski scoring the first goal of the game.

The second period was more physical than the first. As frustration began to build on the Colorado side, they found themselves down 5 on 3 when Bas Assaf scored the second goal of the game from the point. Assisted by Kameron Fink and Tristan Mayer with 12:57 left in the second, the Rebels continued to play their strong, fast play. Colorado finally scored their first goal in two nights with 9:10 left in the second, going top left side on Giesbrecht. More physical altercations throughout the second carried over to the third period. 

Forty seconds into the third, it appeared Joe Kaszupski had scored the third Rebels goal, but it was waved off after an officials review. Zach Lawson with 13:00 minutes left in the game, made an awesome one man line through the Buffs’ defense, only to miss glove side. The Rebels played the full sixty minutes with the same speed and strength in which they started the game. It also worked in the Rebels favor as Colorado played a man down on penalties. With 8:20 left in the game, UNLV was out-shooting Colorado 11 to 3, looking to more points on the board. The Buffs pulled their goalie with 90 seconds left in the game, but even with the extra attacker, the Rebels sealed the win.

The Rebels will travel to Stony Brook, New York, next weekend to finish the regular season. The solid 3-0-0 weekend in Colorado should help them in the standings, going into the tournaments. Follow the Skating Rebels on Twitter @UNLVREBELHOCKEY for links to their broadcasts, as well as a link to their GoFundMe to raise monies for the ACHA D1 National Tournament.

Bethany Drysdale was voted by our readers as the Best Hockey Writer on Vegas Hockey