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The DU men’s hockey team got their first win of the season Saturday against No. 14 Colgate University at the Ice Breaker Invitational in Oxford, Ohio.
With the 3-2 win the Pioneers come back from their season opening tournament with a 1-1 record after losing a hard fought game to No. 8 Miami University-Ohio on Friday.
Sophomore defensemen Chris Butler led the way for the Pioneers with a goal in each of the two games and making the All-Tournament team.
In Friday’s game, the Pioneers fell behind early when the highly touted Miami team scored the game’s first three goals, taking a 3-0 lead early in the second period.
The Pioneers would later get goals from sophomore forward Patrick Mullen in the second period and Butler in the third, but it was not enough as DU lost its season opener 5-2.
The Pioneers only scored once on 15 power-play chances. Junior Peter Mannino took the loss in goal for the Pioneers, saving 26 of 31 shots he faced.
Saturday was a different story for the Pioneers as they scored three power-play goals to earn their first win of the season.
After a scoreless first period, Colgate jumped out to an early 1-0 early in the second when forward Tyler Butler beat Pioneer goalie, junior Glen Fisher, on a one-timer from teammate David McIntyre.
The Colgate lead didn’t last long, as Butler notched his second goal of the tournament on a power-play at 3:15 of the second period.
Then, after some strong defensive play which included the Pioneers killing off a two-man advantage for Colgate, junior forward Ryan Dingle gave DU their first lead of the season after knocking in a rebound off of a shot by sophomore forward Bryan Trotter’s power-play shot.
Mullen then gave the Pioneers a two goal lead when he tipped in a shot on another power-play with just over a minute left in the second period.
The Pioneers lead was cut down to 3-2 when Colgate’s Burton used a controversial screen on Fisher to score their second goal of the game. A Colgate palyer appeared to be skating in the crease as he blocked Fisher’s view of the shot.
The play stood and so did DU’s lead, as they held on for the win. Fisher stopped 24 Colgate shots in earning his first win of the year.
The weekend series not only marked the first games of the season for the Pioneers, but it was the first return to Oxford for DU Head Coach George Gwozdecky since he held the top coaching spot for Miami.
Gwozdecky was inducted into the Miami University Cradle of Coaches Association this weekend, a prestigious honor that has already been bestowed to football coaching legends Woody Hayes and Bo Schembechler.
DU will kick off WCHA play this Friday when thy take on St. Cloud State University at 6:07 p.m. MT in St. Cloud, Minn.
