Working together, they raise a different kind of cup

For Carol Serratore, the decision to hire Sally Owens was a no-brainer.

Friends since their sons played for the Jr. Tigers in 2003 and the Colorado Thunderbirds in 2004-05, the pair bonded in the countless hours spent rink-side.

As the wives of Colorado Springs' two Division I hockey coaches, Carol and Sally found their lives have share a common pattern, unified by the game of hockey.

"It seems like I've known her forever," said Carol, who has been married to Air Force coach Frank Serratore since 1987. "We have the same lives, kinda."

So when Carol was looking for help at the coffee shop she has managed since January 2005 - she and Frank co-own "It's A Grind" on Fillmore and Centennial - she turned to Sally, who shared her philosophy on customer service and work ethic.

"I love having Sally here," Carol said. "She's like me, she'll go the extra mile."

Among other duties, Sally is the "social director" of the coffee shop, Carol said, organizing staff dinners one Sunday a month.

Though the two inhabit the coffee shop throughout the week - Carol's there year-round, while Sally takes the summers off - their shifts don't overlap as often as they'd like.

"We don't really get a lot of sit-down and chit-chat time," Sally said.

That's why Sally and Carol are looking forward to Friday's game between No. 3 Colorado College and No. 11 Air Force.

It's a date, starting with dinner at La Casa, a Mexican restaurant in Monument, and ending at Cadet Ice Arena, where they'll sit together and watch as their husbands, who also are friends, try to outmaneuver each other.

When it's at CC, the dinner moves down south and "I sit with her in her seats," Carol said. "It's more fun. It's hard to play against your friend."

Said Sally: "We're supportive of each other. ... We watch occasionally and talk occasionally."

The pair, who both showed up wearing pink last week, break into laughter with just a look and finish each other's sentences.

"I'm not that competitive, honestly," Carol said.

"See, I am," Sally said, smiling and shrugging her shoulders.

Of the wins and losses, Carol said: "I take it all with a grain of salt."
"I was just about to say the exact same thing," said Sally, who married Colorado College coach Scott Owens on New Year's Eve in 2001, "the Harvard series weekend," she recalled.

They easily swap stories about how the sport of hockey has become part of the fabric of their lives.

On Carol's and Frank's honeymoon in Hawaii, "he found the only rink in Oahu," she said. "He said he needed some fresh air."

Sally met Owens when they both worked for the Des Moines Buccaneers, a United States Hockey League team. She says their TiVo gets put to work early in the week as Owens reviews the previous weekend's college hockey games. (Carol just nodded, knowingly.)

Mostly, Carol and Sally find common ground chatting about their families and lives over breakfast, lunch or a pumpkin chai tea, Carol's drink of choice the other day.

As Sally worried about how she and Scott will fare in August, when they have to dance in front of the crowd at her eldest son's wedding, Carol cheered her on.

"Keep watching ‘Dancing With The Stars'!" Carol said. "Wouldn't it be fun to go out there and cut a rug?"

"Something tells me Scott just might not go for that," Sally said, laughing.