Photo by: Andrew Fielding
Colorado Springs, Colo. – In a much-anticipated series between the top two teams in the WCHA and in-state rivals, the No. 2 University of Denver Pioneers defeated the No. 5 Colorado College Tigers 2-1, claiming the No. 1 spot in the WCHA with 17 points.
“It’s been a long time since we’ve beaten these guys,” said DU head coach George Gwozdecky.
DU (10-4-1, 8-2-1) ended a six-game winless streak (0-3-3) against CC (10-4-1, 7-3-1) with the first win since Nov. 24, 2007.
“It was a battle,” said DU goaltender Marc Cheverie. “It was huge for us, for the Gold Pan and for WCHA standings, we know tomorrow is going to be even harder.”
The Tigers have held possession of the Gold Pan Trophy for three consecutive years.
“It’s a step in the right direction,” said DU captain Rhett Rakhshani of winning the trophy.
To win back the Gold Pan, the Pioneers need to take at least three more points from the Tigers. CC has a 10-6 advantage in the 16 years of Gold Pan competition.
Senior Tyler Ruegsegger gave the Pioneers an early lead 3:36 into the first period, assisted by Jesse Martin and Anthony Maiani.
“It was huge,” Rakhshani said. “It was a turning point in the game.”
“Good things happened early,” Gwozdecky said. “We scored early. Taking the opposing crowd out of the game, it certainly does wonders for your psyche and how you’re playing and what you want to do. Getting the first goal of the game was a huge objective of ours.”
With CC’s Nate Prosser in the penalty box for holding the stick, Rakhshani netted a power-play goal assisted by Ruegsegger and Patrick Wiercioch 2:59 in the second period.
Prosser cut Denver’s lead to one 2:20 into the third period, with Martin in the penalty box for slashing. Prosser was assisted by Tim Hall and Gabe Guentzel.
The Tigers came close to tying the game, pulling freshman goaltender Joe Howe with just more than one minute of play remaining. At 19:13 Denver’s John Lee was sent to the penalty box for tripping, giving CC a 6-on-4 man advantage, but the Tigers could not capitalize.
Colorado College outshot the Pioneers 27-18.
The two teams will continue the series tomorrow night in Magness Arena.
“It’s going to be a wild atmosphere tomorrow night with a lot at stake,” Gwozdecky said. “We put a little distance between ourselves and our archrival. Tomorrow night we have an opportunity to do even more so. We have one hand on the Gold Pan, so to speak, it’s so much at stake.”
But the Pioneers have struggled with the second game of a series this season. So far they’ve gone 2-4-1 on Saturdays, and 8-0 in Friday games.
“If you can’t be excited to play the second night of a back-to-back game, there’s something that’s just not working right for you,” Gwozdecky said. “Hopefully we’ll be able to overcome that lousy Saturday night start and lousy Saturday night performances we’ve had this year.”
The puck drops at 7:07 p.m.
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