Photo by: Michael Furman
The Pioneers have a new challenge ahead this weekend. After almost a month of conference games, the team will play two non-conference games.
“These games are huge for us. This weekend has big implications for our national rankings and could end up being the difference between being ranked a No. 1 seed in the national tournament or being a much lower seed. We need these two wins,” said sophomore Joe Colborne.
The Pioneers will welcome the Mercyhurst Lakers from the Atlantic Hockey conference on Friday night. These two teams have not played since the 2006-2007 season when Mercyhurst was in town for the Denver Cup.
DU won that game 3-0.
Mercyhurst currently has a record of 12-14-2. They are not ranked and have lost three of their last four games.
On Saturday, DU will travel to Colorado Springs, Colo., to take on the Air Force Falcons.
In the last 12 meetings between the two teams, DU has an 11-1 record, with its only loss coming during the 2007-2008 season. In those 12 games, DU has outscored the Falcons by a combined score of 50-20.
DU is coming into the weekend on a high note because they moved up one spot in the polls to No. 2.
The Pioneers also moved back to the top of the WCHA standings with 28 points. They are now one point ahead of Minnesota-Duluth.
After sweeping the previously No. 4 ranked Fighting Sioux, the Pioneers look to expand on those wins.
In the first game against the Sioux, DU came out flying. Sophomore Joe Colborne scored the first goal just more than a minute into the game to put the Pioneers up 1-0. Senior Tyler Ruegsegger then scored less than two minutes after that to make it 2-0.
From then on, Marc Cheverie stole the show. With a two-goal cushion, Cheverie locked down and did not allow anything past him. He made 33 saves on the night to record his sixth shutout this season, which remains the most in the nation.
In the second game, the Sioux scored a goal in the first and second period, and had a two-goal lead at the half way point of the game.
After that, the Pioneers locked down defensively and the offense came alive. With four unanswered goals all by different Pioneers, they skated to a 4-2 victory and a season sweep of conference-rival North Dakota.
A key to the victory, besides the great play of Cheverie, 55 saves on 57 shots, was the penalty killing of the Pioneers. They were able to hold the Sioux to no power play goals on 13 chances.
That kind of play will need to be common for DU if they want to continue this streak into the WCHA playoffs and the NCAA National Tournament.
