When a team outshoots its opponent 71-36 in a two-game series, as the No. 6 Pioneers did Friday and Saturday against the University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs, it would be considered dominating.
Both games in the series were decided by three and four goal margins, but, unfortunately for DU, they were only on the winning end of one of those games.
After pounding the No. 17 Bulldogs 5-1 in Friday’s WCHA opener at Magness Arena, the Pioneers were shut out by UMD 3-0 on Saturday, despite outshooting their opponent 41-13.
“I thought that they played a smart game,” Pioneer Head Coach George Gwozdecky said of Saturday night’s strange loss. “They used a kind of rope-a-dope. Eventually, when we continue to swing and swing and swing, you start to drop your guard a little bit, and that’s what we did.”
The Pioneers did not see these kind of problems in Friday night’s game, despite the shot count and overall play of the game being relatively more even between the two teams.
After a scoreless first period, Pioneer sophomore forward Brock Trotter broke the tie with his third goal of the season when he buried a one-timer off a feed from freshman Kyle Ostrow on a power play.
The Bulldogs answered back only 52 seconds later, before the Pioneers scored four straight goals.
Both freshmen Anthony Maiani and Ostrow netted goals in the second period, while sophomores Tyler Ruegsegger and Brandon Vossberg added tallies in the third.
Despite the lop-sided win, Gwozdekcy was not overall pleased with his team’s performance.
“I think tonight’s score was extremely misleading it was not a 5-1 game,” he said. “I thought we were very lucent on our coverage’s all over the ice, especially in our own zone, I thought we turned the puck over and made poor passing decisions.”
In the win, senior goalie Peter Mannino put up yet another stellar performance, saving 22 of the 23 shots that he faced and allowing his team to cruise to the easy win.
However, things were much more difficult for Mannino and his teammates Saturday night, as the Pioneers looked to start the season 2-0 in conference play.
The Pioneers looked to be starting Saturday’s game with a great amount of determination, as the play was regularly controlled in the Duluth zone.
Trotter nearly gave the Pioneers an early lead when his backhand shot from the slot slid just wide of UMD goalie Alex Stalock.
After a scoreless first period, the Bulldogs took the lead on a strange shot from the point that trickled between the legs of Mannino and slid just over the goal line.
UMD extended its lead to two goals only two minutes later when a Pioneer defensive lapse left Bulldog forward Rob Bordson all alone in the slot for a one-time shot that beet Mannino low to the stick side.
The Pioneers continued to fight, however, and relentlessly poured shots on Stalock, who stoned DU forward Rhett Rakhshani on a shot right in front of the goal on what would be the Pioneers best scoring chance of the period.
The third period started with the Pioneers blowing two early power plays before Matt Greer of UMD made the score 3-0 when he broke past junior defenseman J.P. Testwuide and snuck a shot past Mannino’s glove.
Down by three goals, the Pioneers pressed. Generating shot after shot that all resulted in Stalock saves, the Pioneers sustained a strong attack but could not finish.
Despite an overwhelming shot differential in their favor, the Pioneers ended the game with a 3-0 loss.
“We couldn’t bury any of our chances, and, at the same time, they capitalized on all of theirs,” Ruegsegger said.
The Pioneers continued their season-long struggle on the power play as they went 0-7 in Saturday night’s game.
The performance brings their total to 3-37 on the year, despite generating 59 overall shots with the man advantage.
Despite Saturday’s loss, the Pioneers are off to a solid 4-2 start, and look to be heading in the right direction.
“Every year is something new,” Mannino said. “I am happy with how things are going, it’s not perfect, but we are working hard as a team,”
The Pioneers resume WCHA play next weekend as they travel to Minneapolis to take on the Golden Gophers of the University of Minnesota. Friday’s puck drop is schedule for 6:07 p.m. MT, while game two will be played Sunday at 1:07. Sunday’s game will be available on FSN Rocky Mountain.
