After a thrilling 6-5 victory over Wisconsin on Friday night, expectations were running high for another win Saturday night by the No. 2 Pioneer hockey team.
Denver did not disappoint, sweeping the series with a 7-4 trouncing of the Badgers on Saturday.
On Friday, Wisconsin scored the first goal after seven minutes into play, but DU sophomore Tyler Bozak tied it up during a 5-on-3 power play just before the first intermission. In the second period, the Badgers scored three goals in less than two minutes, taking a 4-1 lead. But DU sophomore Dustin Jackson made it 4-2 off a pass from junior Tyler Ruegsegger with less than five minutes left in the second period.
In the third period, the Pioneers came back to tie the game with goals from freshman Patrick Wiercioch and from sophomore Anthony Maiani on a power play. Wisconsin took the lead once again with only nine minutes remaining, but Ruegsegger made it 5-5 on another DU power play.
With 3:45 remaining in the game, Wiercioch scored the game-winning goal and Denver’s fourth power play goal of the evening.
In an attempt to reverse fortune, Wisconsin surprisingly replaced senior goaltender Shane Connelly with sophomore Scott Gudmandson in Saturday’s game, but to no avail.
In DU’s second win, senior captain J.P Testwuide gave DU an early advantage when he took a pass from Kyle Ostrow to find the back of the Badgers’ net just over five minutes into the game. Three minutes later, Ostrow received a pass from Maiani and buried the puck to give DU a two-point lead.
Just over a minute later, Wiercioch passed to Bozak who scored and gave DU 3-0 DU lead.
Sophomore goalie Marc Cheverie had a good first period stopping all 14 shots he faced.
The second period brought flashbacks from Friday night. Eleven minutes into the period Wisconsin’s offense seemed to wake up, scoring three goals in four minutes, two on a power play, to tie the game at 3 and change the tempo of the game.
The game did not stay tied for long. “We’re gonna win this game,” Ruegsegger said was his first thought when that tying goal went in. Denver answered with a goal by Rhett Rakhshani, assisted by Ruegsegger and Chris Nutini, to go ahead once again.
The Pioneers added one more goal by freshmen Luke Salazar to take a 5-3 lead going into the third period.
Sophomore Dustin Jackson added some insurance early on in the period thanks in large part to a pass by Ruegsegger to spring him on a breakaway. Jackson finished the play off with a nice move to his backhand, slipping the puck past the goalie. The best goal of the night, though, belonged to Bozak. He ended up one on one with the Wisconsin goalie and slipped the puck into a seemingly wide-open net. Wisconsin would add one more goal, but all in all the game was safely put away early in the third period.
Sophomore goaltender Marc Cheverie finished the game with a career high 35 saves. When asked after the game how he felt about the team’s wins, Cheverie said, “4-0 is 4-0. It doesn’t matter what your stats are. The only stat that matters is that ‘W.'”
The outcome in both games hinged on penalties. Wisconsin had nine power plays and converted on two of them, where Denver had seven power plays and could not find the back of the net on any of them.
The rollercoaster type games are beginning to be the norm for this year’s Denver hockey team. “I hope this isn’t a trend but there are times where I think back to that ’05 team that was very good and very talented, but one of the things that that ’05 team had was the understanding of a big senior class,” said head coach George Gwozdecky.
The team’s youth is something that will need to be dealt with, however with the great group of underclassmen, DU looks to be a big contender. Gwozdecky also commented on the youth of the Pioneers.
“I think part of what you’re seeing over the past three games is you’ve got three seniors, two that are in the line up, and you have to rely on the guys that haven’t been around the block a lot,” he said.
This win is big for Denver. After last season’s bitter end with a defeat at the hands of the Badgers, a sweep to start WCHA play is just what the doctor ordered. This win moves DU into a three-way tie atop the WCHA with Minnesota and Colorado College.
Next week the Pioneers welcome Ohio State in for homecoming weekend. Not only are the Buckeyes and the parents being welcomed in for next weekends games, but junior defenseman Cody Brookwell will also suit up for his first game of the season. He was reinstated from him four-game suspension yesterday. Gwozdecky had nothing but positive things to say about Brookwell coming back into the lineup.
“Cody is one of our big, strong, tough defensive defensemen,” Gwozdecky said.
Unranked Ohio State is coming off a weekend split with CCHA conference rival Lake Superior State. Coming into the weekend with an overall record of 1-2-1, Ohio State will be looking to turn its season around early.
The puck drops at 7:37 p.m. on Friday and 7:07 p.m. on Saturday.
