By Ron Knabenbauer
Colorado goaltender Kevin Litinsky posted his sixth career shutout on Saturday, as he stopped all 19 shots by the No. 3 Northern Colorado Bears en route to a 4-0 victory for the Buffaloes.
Litinsky, who led the ACHA last season in shutouts with four, stopped every puck he faced for the first time since he last did it on Oct. 18 in an 8-0 win against San Jose State.
The No. 5 Buffs (15-10-1) who had played the Bears (14-5-5) two previous times this season were looking for redemption for the second straight night as they tied UNC earlier in the year during the Western Classic Tournament. The tie caused the Buffs to miss out on the championship/consolation game of the tournament.
This time around CU wasn’t taking any chances, as Sean Carpenter received a great pass from Kevin Alpert and scored two minutes into the game to give Colorado the 1-0 lead. It was Carpenter’s seventh goal of the season, and he would add an assist later in the game as well.
The Buffs would add another in the second, as Erich Seufert got the puck past UNC goaltender Phil Tereyla for his 17th of the season, giving CU a two goal advantage.
Tereyla played great for the Bears, but he got little help from his defense as he could only manage to stop 34 of the 38 shots he faced in the game.
UNC came out in the third period ready to cut the CU lead in half, but an undisciplined boarding penalty by Kevin Insana at 19:31 killed any hopes of that.
Insana was called for a five minute major, which left the door wide open for Colorado to score multiple power play goals.
Alpert would score the first one at 18:04, and then Seufert would get his second of the game at 16:56 to give the Buffs the four goal lead.
The Seufert goal was a tip in, after a slap shot by Jeffrey Palmer from the slot in the UNC zone. Max Myers was credited with an assist on the goal as well, for his second of the night.
Myers currently leads the team in points with 42 (16 goals and 26 assists), while Conor Williams is second with 38 points (23 goals and 15 assists).
Colorado will take on Northern Colorado one more time this season, as the Bears will host the season finale on Feb. 20 in Greeley.
Next up for the Buffs are the No. 9 University of Nevada-Las Vegas Rebels on Thursday Jan. 22 at 8:30 P.M. and then the Cal. State Long Beach 49ers on Saturday Jan. 24 at 7:30 P.M.
Both Games will be at the CU Ice Arena inside the Student Recreation Center on campus. All home games are free for students and only $5 for the general public.
Scoring
1st Period
18:07 CU Sean Carpenter – Kevin Alpert
2nd Period
5:32 CU Erich Seufert – Max Myers, A.J. Koller
3rd Period
18:04 CU Kevin Alpert (PP) – Sean Carpenter, Andy Neitenbach
16:56 CU Erich Seufert (PP) – Jeffrey Palmer, Max Myers
Three Stars
1) Erich Seufert (CU) - 2 goals
2) Kevin Litinsky (CU) – 19 saves
3) Sean Carpenter (CU) – 1 goal (GWG) and 1 assist
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