Photo by: Michael Furman
After back-to-back weekends on the road, the Pioneer hockey team comes home for their Homecoming match up against conference rival Minnesota State.
This will be the second weekend in a row that DU will play a set of conference games.
Last weekend, Minnesota State played against the University of Wisconsin. The first game was a complete blow out. Wisconsin scored three goals in the first period and added three more in the second. The final was 6-0 and the game was filled with penalties. There were a total of 17 power plays combined.
Freshman goaltender Kevin Murdock got the start for Minnesota State, but did not make it through the second period as he was pulled in favor of fellow freshman Phil Cook.
The veteran goalie on the team, Austin Lee got the start in game two, and the Mavericks were much more competitive. Wisconsin jumped into the lead in the first period, but two second period goals for the Mavericks and then Zach Harrison’s power play goal in the third period sealed the victory 3-2.
Denver finally broke their streak of splits last weekend in Minnesota by sweeping the Golden Gophers.
The first game was all about solid defense and goaltending. Veteran forwards Tyler Ruegsegger and Capitan Rhett Rakhshani took care of all the scoring. Ruegsegger had the first goal early on in the game. Rakhshani was able to add two more goals to help win the game 3-0.
Marc Cheverie continued his play this season, getting his second straight shutout of the year making 30 saves in the game.
The second game was very similar to the first game. The score was the same, 3-0 and Rakhshani had another goal, to bring his season total to four, currently leading the team. He also leads in total points with eight.
Kyle Ostrow had the other two goals of the night, and freshman Drew Shore had two assists.
A big contribution for the win goes to junior goaltender Cheverie. He made 30 saves in this game and added his third consecutive shutout of the season. It pushed his shutout streak to 203:19, and is now ranked No. 2 all-time shutout streak for DU. He has not allowed a goal since the second period of the season opener against Vermont; adding up to 103 straight saves.
The big story of the night though was head coach George Gwozdecky. With the sweep of the Gophers, it brought his win total up to 500 career wins.
Last season the Pioneers played the Mavericks twice, winning both games on the road. The first game was close, but DU took the win 3-2.
Matt Glasser highlighted the weekend by scoring a hat-trick in the second game leading the Pioneers to the 5-2 victory and the sweep of the Golden Gophers.
The teams face-off Friday and Saturday night. Friday night’s game is at 7:37 p.m. and the puck drops Saturday night at 7:07 p .m. Both games are in Magness Arena.
