From College Sports Journal
By Ben Schleiger
University of Northern Colorado Hockey (ACHA) finished their season with a 6-2 loss to eventual Conference Champions the Metro State Roadrunners. The Big Mountain Hockey Conference is comprised of six universities: University of Northern Colorado (UNC), University of Colorado, Colorado State University, University of Denver, University of Wyoming, and Metro State University. Since the beginning of the conference in 2016, the regular season and conference champions have been dominated by UNC and Metro State.
Northern Colorado had an uncharacteristically down year as they finished 11-17-2-0 (Win-Loss-OT Loss-Tie). The majority of the out of state road trips and tournaments went poorly for the Bears, but a 2-0 trip to TCU, a win on senior night, and an undefeated record against rival Colorado State are worth celebrating.
Northern Colorado competed in a play-in game for the Big Mountain Hockey Conference Championship against in-state rival Colorado State. As expected, the game was hard-hitting, chalked full of penalties, and enough drama to fill up a Southern tea kettle. Despite CSU’s athleticism, their shots on goal and team chemistry were not enough to out score the Bears. After an exhausting rivalry game the Bears emerged victorious 6-3.
The semi-finals featured #3 UNC hosting #2 Metro State and #1 Denver hosting #6 Wyoming. The Bears technical skills were not as refined as Metro’s leading them to more scoring opportunities and a 6-2 win at the Ice Haus. Wyoming led a historic charge against the Pioneers as they finished with a barn-burner win of 9-8. Metro opened with an early lead and outpaced the Cowboys to take a 5-3 win and the Conference Title.
Another noteworthy accomplishment is that Cade Boreing has firmly cemented his legacy into the UNC Hockey history.
Cade Boreing is now the all-time leader in goals scored with 111 goals in 129 games. That is 10 goals more than second place Cameron Taggert and done in 38 games sooner. The last two seasons for Boreing coming in at 44 goals and 63 points total are also first in team records. Additionally, Boreing secured the third all-time spot in total points scored for the team with 170. Also, after this weekend, Boreing still holds the lead over the entire Division II ACHA with 44 goals this season and is sixth in total points scored with 63. (All stats via EliteProspects.com and ACHA D2)
The UNC Bears will surely miss the offensive power of Boreing as they head into the offseason hoping to find a new offensive star to lead them back to the title runs they are used to.
(Originally published at https://www.college-sports-journal.com/northern-colorado-hockey-season-concludes-in-big-mountain-hockey-conference-semi-finals/)
