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'Runners get season inline
Roller hockey team off to great start in second half of season
By Eric Lansing
lansing@mscd.edu

Photo by Dawn Madura • dmadura@mscd.edu Metro forward Cody Lemon takes a slapshot from the blue line in their victory over the University of Colorado Feb. 17 at the Bladium Sports Club. Lemon is the captain of the Roadrunners inline hockey club team and founded the team two years ago. He finally got the team sanctioned by the school in 2006.

Metro’s inline hockey team started the second half of their season with three wins in four games, including a 9-7 victory over AIMS Community College Feb. 18 at the Bladium Sports Club.

Metro’s first game back was a loss to a Colorado State University team that has only lost one game all season. The Roadrunners then took two straight from the University of Colorado on Feb. 16 and 17.

In the final game of their four-game weekend, Metro held off a late rally by AIMS to clinch their eighth win of the season.

“I owe it all to them,” Metro head coach Tom Barr said. “I have the greatest team on the planet. These guys skate and play by the heart, and they play 36 minutes of hockey in every game.”

“We’re doing great,” team captain Cody Lemon said. “The last three out of four games we have really stepped it up, and the team knows that.”

With the game tied at four and two minutes still remaining on the clock, the Roadrunners scored consecutive goals to put Metro ahead 6-4 before the end of the second period.

The ’Runners scored two goals at the start of the third period, giving them a comfortable four-goal advantage – or so they thought.

With just five minutes remaining in the closing period, AIMS went on a tear, scoring three goals in less than a minute.

But the Roadrunners got the insurance goal they needed by scoring with less than 30 seconds to go to squeeze out the victory.

Barr’s main concern in the 9-7 victory was starting goalie Ryan Tennant. Barr said that Tennant had a long weekend, playing four games in a row, but has been playing outstanding hockey. He added that he was proud of the entire team, which has been giving it everything they have in every game.

The Roadrunners play in the Rocky Mountain Collegiate Roller Hockey Association, a Division I conference. They finished the first half of the season ranked fourth in the conference with a 3-5-3 record and nine points.

Colorado State is atop the conference with a 9-1-1 record and 19 points. The University of Denver is ranked second, with the University of Colorado-Boulder in third, Northern Colorado in fifth and the School of Mines in sixth.

“From where we were at the beginning of the season to now is like 300 percent (improvement),” Lemon said. “It’s great how we are coming together and getting the (wins).”

Metro has two games left to play before they get ready for their regional tournament, which begins March 2. The tournament will decide if they will get to attend the National Collegiate Roller Hockey Association tournament in St. Louis.

Barr said that he is going to try and keep his team motivated so his team can make a solid run at the nationals. “We need to keep them in their game and keep their attitudes under control. We have a great team,” Barr said.