Photo by: Justin Edmonds
In a weekend of strange bounces and even stranger calls, the No. 2 University of Denver Pioneer hockey team split a WCHA series with the No. 17 University of Wisconsin Badgers at Magness Arena.
After a 3-2 victory, in which the Pioneers watched a three-goal lead nearly disappear in the final seconds Friday night, DU was pounded by the Badgers 7-2 on Saturday.
“I think that this is a good wake-up call for everyone,” Pioneer Head Coach George Gwozdecky said after Saturday night’s loss. “With our [ranking and record], we are going to get everyone’s best game. We have to be ready for that.”
However, some things can be hard to prepare for, such as the bizarre, and rare, mishaps from the officiating crew. In a series that should have been about two powerhouse collegiate programs, much of the talk shifted from the game to the work of Randy Schmidt, the long-time WCHA official, who served as the head referee for the series.
At the very end of Friday night’s game Schmidt went to the replay and disallowed what appeared to be a game-tying goal by UW, saying the puck crossed the goal line after the period came to a close.
Schmidt followed up Saturday night by allowing a UW goal on a strange and ordinarily non-reviewable play in the second period, in which Schmidt appeared to whistle the play dead when he lost sight of the puck. A UW player chipped the puck over DU goalie Peter Mannino and into the net just after it appeared the whistle blew. Schmidt initially waived off the goal, but, after viewing the replay, decided to let it stand.
The goal broke a 1-1 tie and swung the momentum, and the game, in the Badgers’ favor.
“I think after Friday night’s game, it was a no win situation for [Schmidt], Saturday,” Gwozdecky said. “I don’t want to take anything away from Wisconsin. They were much better than us tonight.”
Not all of the weekend’s action was as strange, however.
The Pioneers started Friday night’s game with early domination over UW. After a number of quality chances, DU broke the scoreless tie early in the first period when senior forward Tom May burned a Badger defenseman with a quick move at the blue line and shelved a snapshot over the left shoulder of UW goaltender Shane Connelly.
Then, after goals by freshman Anthony Maiani and sophomore Tyler Ruegsegger, the Pioneers built their lead to 3-0.
DU looked to be in control until UW standout freshman and leading scorer Kyle Turris wristed a shot off UW sophomore Aaron Bendickson and into the back of the net on a Badger power play late in the second period.
The Badgers then cut the Pioneer lead to one after burying a rebound through Mannino’s legs to make the score 3-2 two minutes into the third period.
UW had the Pioneers on their heels, as DU failed to generate any sustaining offense for the rest of the period.
Then, controversy struck.
With 3.7 seconds remaining in the game and a face off to the left of Mannino in goal, the Badgers pulled their goalie for an extra attacker. Turris won the draw back to UW defenseman Matthew Ford, who corralled the puck and slid a wrist shot on the ice and past Mannino as the buzzer sounded. The Badgers celebrated, but Schmidt went to the replay to get another look and, eventually, disallowed the goal.
The game ended in a Pioneer 3-2 victory.
The controversy over the goal did not stop Friday, as the WCHA released a statement Saturday saying that the goal should have stood and apologized for the error.
The mixed reactions from the coaches, players, media and fans seemed to carry over into Saturday’s game.
Starting off the same as Friday, the Pioneers jumped to an early lead after Ruegsegger used deft touch in handling a Maiani pass in the slot and firing it over Connelly’s out-stretched glove to give DU an early lead.
That would be the Pioneers’ last lead of the weekend, as the Badgers responded with five unanswered goals, including the momentum turning replay goal that gave them the initial lead.
The Pioneers did not get on the board again until 3:13 into the third period when freshman forward Kyle Ostrow scored his eighth goal of the season.
UW added two more goals and finished with a 7-2 victory.
The loss dropped the Pioneers’ record to a still impressive 17-5 (12-4 WCHA).
The Pioneers are next in action as they play a non-conference series at the United States Air Force Academy this weekend. The puck drop is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Friday.
