by Travis Weber
Daily Lobo
The UNM Ice Wolves swept the Colorado College Tigers in their final home stand of the year this weekend in two games that could have been twins.
The games Friday and Saturday were fast-paced and hard-hitting, and each ended with the score of 6-3.
"Both games this weekend were really similar," head coach Joel Cormier said. "We got off to a slow start and fell behind and came roaring back both times."
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The game on Friday was the first time these two teams met, and in the first couple of minutes it didn't look like the Ice Wolves ever wanted to meet the Tigers again.
UNM watched as Colorado College took a 2-0 lead to the locker room after the first period.
The Ice Wolves came out on fire in the second period with Warren Ross scoring two minutes into the period. It got worse for the Tigers after when three minutes later Donald Gadomski and Joey Carroll scored 18 seconds apart to give UNM their first lead of the game.
The Ice Wolves added two more goals in the period from Jason Schulz and Billy Cottle to secure the lead at 5-2. Both teams scored one more goal to end the game at 6-3.
"We really came out strong in the second period and that gave us the game," Cormier said. "Warren Ross played an amazing game and really got the team going with his goal."
Saturday was the same story as fans watched Colorado College take the lead on a breakaway goal two minutes into the game. Things settled after that as the hitting picked up and teams peppered one another's goalies. Ian McMaster broke through for the Ice Wolves with just 24 seconds left in the period as his wrist shot found its way through traffic to the back of the net.
After that goal, momentum seemed to swing UNM's way as they came out flying in the second period for the second night in a row. Matt Stockham, Gadomski and Andrew Robinson led the onslaught with three unanswered goals in a little over four minutes.
By the game's end, McMaster and Stockham would score one more apiece to give the Ice Wolves an identical victory of 6-3.
"The game was much closer than the score indicated," Cormier said. "Kyle Eden played great in goal tonight, and I think that was a big difference."
In the end, UNM wound up outshooting the Tigers 39-to-38, as well as outpenalizing them almost 2-to-1.
"These were a fun final two home games," senior defensemen Ben Njus said. "Our goal is to entertain the crowd, and I think this weekend we did a good job of that."
UNM's win total on the season is now up to 17, just three shy of their team goal of 20 set back in October.
"This has been an amazing year for our program," Njus said. "We have a lot of talented players, and the coaching and management has improved so much. It's great to see."
The Ice Wolves have four games remaining in the season to reach the 20-win mark they set, and all of them are on the road. Next weekend they travel north to Colorado College to take on the Tigers again for two games, and in two weeks they wrap up the season in Flagstaff, Ariz., against Northern Arizona.
