Photo by: Michael Furman
MINNEAPOLIS – The only thing close about the Pioneers season-ending loss to the No. 4-seed University of Miami (Ohio) was the score.
DU was defeated 4-2 in the first round of the NCAA West Regional.
The loss was a replay of last year when DU was also eliminated in the first round. It was an early ending to a successful season.
Entering as the No. 1 seed and No. 3 in the PairWise Rankings, Denver was outplayed in every aspect of the game, recording only a mere 18 shots on goal, a season low for the Pioneers.
“We just couldn’t get it in the net,” senior captain J.P. Testwuide said.
Testwuide entered Friday’s game with a torn ligament in his knee and had missed practice all week.
Although claiming his injury wasn’t a factor in the loss, his commitment to finish the season strong meant a lot for the morale of the team.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever coached a more physically tough guy than J.P. Testwuide,” head coach George Gwozdecky said. “He shouldn’t have played tonight. His knee is real bad, and that just took unbelievable guts and determination. The pain threshold he has is incredible. I can’t tell you the type of sacrifice he made for his team today. It’s pretty honorable.”
Denver and Miami have a very unique relationship, which made it an emotional night for Gwozdecky.
Gwozdecky coached Miami’s head coach Enrico Blasi at Miami before hiring Blasi as an assistant coach at DU for four years.
“It’s a little bit like coaching against your son,” Gwozdecky said. “I hate losing to a family member, but if we’re going to lose, it hurts less because we’re losing to a class program, and a classy coaching staff and a classy young guy like Enrico Blasi.
“For me, he’s been like a second father,” Blasi said. “And obviously my mentor in coaching.”
The RedHawks jumped to a 2-0 lead in the first period, setting the pace for the rest of the game.
“A good part of our game over the course of the season was our transition game and how quickly we can go from defense to offence,” Gwozdecky said. “But today it was pretty much non-existent.”
Miami extended its lead to 3-0 at the beginning of the second period.
The Pioneers finally got a shot in with under three minutes left in the second when freshman Joe Colborne netted the puck past Miami’s Cody Reichard on the power-play, assisted by Patrick Wiercioch and Tyler Bozak.
Bozak returned to the lineup Friday after missing the last 21 games with a knee injury.
As the Pioneers gained momentum, the RedHawks were quick to answer with another goal to make the score 4-1.
“We had been struggling all game long and that power-play goal gave us some life, gave us some jump,” Gwozdecky said. “We didn’t seem like we were skating in quicksand as much. Just when we were thinking, ‘Hey we still have time here,’ they get that third goal differential. It did not help us as much as we were struggling against them.
I think it had probably a big psychological effect not only for us, but for our opponent as well.”
The Pioneers pulled sophomore goaltender Marc Cheverie with 6:40 of play still remaining as junior Brandon Vossberg and Miami’s Vincent LoVerde served penalties for roughing, giving Denver a 6-on-4-man advantage.
Bozak cut Miami’s lead back to two, but it was too late.
The RedHawks went on to earn their first ever NCAA Tournament berth on Saturday, defeating University of Minnesota Duluth 2-1.
