Battle for Pikes Peak

The Battle for Pikes Peak is a college ice hockey rivalry[1] series that is played between the Colorado College Tigers and the Air Force Falcons.

Air Force–Colorado College men's ice hockey rivalry

Air Force
First meeting	December 5, 1969 Colorado College 5, Air Force 1
Latest meeting	February 17, 2020 Colorado College 4, Air Force 2
Trophy	Pikes Peak Trophy
Statistics
Meetings total	78
All-time series	Colorado College leads 63–13-2
Largest victory	Colorado College, 15–1 (1973)
Longest win streak	Colorado College, 25 (1989–2008)
Longest unbeaten streak	Colorado College, 30 (1986—2008)
Current win streak	Colorado College, 3 (2018–present)

Background

The two schools have played each other since the Air Force Academy introduced ice hockey to its sporting schedule in the 1968–69 season. Colorado College started its hockey program thirty years before in 1938 and had been the lone top tier college hockey team till the University of Denver added ice hockey in 1949. The rivalry between Colorado College and the University of Denver, commonly called the Battle for the Gold Pan, has had a far more reaching intensity and history. However, unlike CC and DU, who are 65 miles from each other, CC and the Air Force Academy are only 11 miles apart (both within Colorado Springs city limits). In 2013, Colorado College and Air Force established the Pikes Peak Trophy in memory of former CC and Falcons head coach John Matchefts. Matchefts had compiled a record of 54-88-3 in five seasons (1966-71) at the Colorado College helm before posting a ledger of 154-150-6 in 11 years (1974-85) with Air Force.[2]

The rules to the series is very similar to that of the more widely known Battle for the Gold Pan. There are however many distinct differences. Unlike the four games per year between CC and DU, Air Force and CC have traditionally played only two games per year (between 2011 and 2014 only one game was played), this is mostly done in part as Air Force and CC have never been in the same conference. Air Force is currently part of the Atlantic Hockey Association, while Colorado College is a founding member of both its former and current hockey leagues, respectively the Western Collegiate Hockey Association and National Collegiate Hockey Conference. Both play a home-and-home series on weekends, where both teams play on each other's home ice on back-to-back nights. The home ice for the Colorado College Tigers is the Broadmoor World Arena (which is a larger Olympic-size rink), while the home ice for the Air Force Falcons is Cadet Ice Arena (which is a smaller NHL-size rink). The difference in rink size is again, similar to that of the rivalry between CC and DU. The setup is that the winner of the series wins the Pikes Peak Trophy. If a tie is reached then the trophy is retained by the previous winner. In the 2016/17 season both schools faced off again for only one game in the regular season. In the 2019-20 season, the teams faced off twice in a season for the first time in four seasons.[3]

Overall rivalry record

The following table details the game results since the inaugural 1969 meeting.[4]

Colorado College victories

Air Force victories

Tie games

No. Date Location Winner Score 1 December 5, 1969 USAFA Colorado College 5–1 2 December 6, 1969 Colorado College Colorado College 8–2 3 January 15, 1971 USAFA Colorado College 8–6 4 January 16, 1971 Colorado College Tie 7–7 5 February 12, 1971 USAFA Air Force 7–4 6 February 13, 1971 Colorado College Colorado College 8–5 7 January 19, 1972 Colorado College Colorado College 12–4 8 February 16, 1972 Colorado Springs Colorado College 11–3 9 March 5, 1972 USAFA Air Force 10–5 10 December 8, 1972 USAFA Colorado College 6–3 11 December 9, 1972 USAFA Colorado College 6–4 12 January 24, 1973 Colorado College Colorado College 14–4 13 February 21, 1973 Colorado College Colorado College 9–6 14 November 3, 1973 USAFA Colorado College 15–1 15 December 1, 1973 Colorado College Colorado College 6–4 16 January 15, 1975 Colorado College Air Force 1–0 17 February 19, 1975 USAFA Air Force 7–6^OT 18 February 11, 1977 Colorado College Colorado College 7–2 19 February 13, 1977 USAFA Colorado College 5–4 20 December 9, 1977 Colorado College Colorado College 7–5 21 December 10, 1977 USAFA Colorado College 6–5 22 December 5, 1978 USAFA Air Force 6–1 23 February 6, 1979 Colorado College Colorado College 8–2 24 December 11, 1979 USAFA Colorado College 7–4 25 February 5, 1980 Colorado College Colorado College 3–2 26 November 21, 1980 USAFA Colorado College 6–2 27 November 22, 1980 Colorado College Colorado College 6–1 28 December 1, 1981 USAFA Colorado College 4–2 29 January 12, 1982 Colorado College Colorado College 10–4 30 December 14, 1983 Colorado College Colorado College 7–6 31 November 16, 1984 USAFA Colorado College 13–4 32 November 17, 1984 Colorado College Colorado College 6–3 33 November 8, 1985 USAFA Colorado College 8–3 34 November 9, 1985 Colorado College Air Force 6–5^OT 35 November 14, 1986 Colorado College Colorado College 8–3 36 November 15, 1986 USAFA Colorado College 7–6 37 November 13, 1987 Colorado College Colorado College 5–1 38 November 28, 1988 USAFA Colorado College 5–2 39 November 10, 1989 USAFA Tie 3–3 40 November 11, 1989 Colorado College Colorado College 7–1 No. Date Location Winner Score 41 January 22, 1991 Colorado College Colorado College 3–1 42 January 29, 1991 USAFA Colorado College 4–3 43 December 10, 1991 Colorado College Colorado College 4–1 44 January 10, 1992 USAFA Colorado College 4–2 45 November 11, 1992 Colorado College Colorado College 12–3 46 February 23, 1993 USAFA Colorado College 6–2 47 November 12, 1993 USAFA Colorado College 9–1 48 November 23, 1993 Colorado College Colorado College 5–1 49 November 25, 1994 USAFA Colorado College 4–2 50 November 26, 1994 USAFA Colorado College 10–1 51 December 5, 1995 USAFA Colorado College 4–2 52 January 7, 1997 USAFA Colorado College 3–2^OT 53 January 6, 1998 USAFA Colorado College 2–1 54 February 24, 1998 Colorado College Colorado College 6–2 55 November 27, 1998 Colorado College Colorado College 8–2 56 January 28, 2000 Colorado College Colorado College 10–0 57 December 1, 2000 Colorado College Colorado College 4–1 58 January 25, 2002 Colorado College Colorado College 8–1 59 November 29, 2002 USAFA Colorado College 7–0 60 November 28, 2003 Colorado College Colorado College 4–2 61 October 22, 2004 USAFA Colorado College 4–1 62 October 22, 2005 Colorado College Colorado College 6–3 63 October 6, 2006 Colorado College Colorado College 2–1 64 January 19, 2008 Colorado College Colorado College 2–1 65 November 28, 2008 USAFA Air Force 4–1 66 February 5, 2010 Colorado Springs Colorado College 2–0 67 November 12, 2010 USAFA Colorado College 6–4 68 December 30, 2011 Colorado College Air Force 2–1 69 October 19, 2012 USAFA Colorado College 6–2 70 November 19, 2013 Colorado College Air Force 3–1 71 November 22, 2014 USAFA Air Force 3–1 72 November 27, 2015 USAFA Air Force 4–3 73 November 28, 2015 Colorado College Colorado College 4–3 74 November 26, 2016 Colorado College Air Force 6–3 75 December 29, 2017 USAFA Air Force 6–3 76 October 13, 2018 Colorado Springs Colorado College 6–1 77 February 14, 2020 Colorado Springs Colorado College 6–2 78 February 17, 2020 USAFA Colorado College 4–2 Series: Colorado College leads 63–13–2

Goal Count

Team	Total Goals
AIR FORCE Goals	219
CC Goals	429
TOTAL Goals	639

Updated as of November 26, 2016

Head-to-head tally

Type	Leader	Leaders W – L – T	Total Matches
AIR FORCE Home Games	CC	32 – 5 – 1	38 Matches Total
CC Home Games	CC	27 – 7 – 1	35 Matches Total
Overtime Games	USAFA	2 – 1 – 1	4 Matches Total

• As of November 2016

See also

• Battle for the Gold Pan

References

1. Shefte, Kate. "CC, Air Force hockey stumble their way to memorable Pikes Peak Trophy battle". Colorado Springs Gazette. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
2. "Battle for Pikes Peak Trophy This Weekend". Colorado College Athletics. Retrieved November 26, 2015.
3. "Falcon rally falls short in 6-2 loss at Colorado College". Air Force Academy Athletics. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
4. "2018 19 Media Guide (PDF)" (PDF). Colorado College Athletics. Retrieved May 12, 2020.