Photo by:
The Pioneer hockey team advanced to the NCAA Midwest Regional Final on Sunday, following a 3-2 double overtime victory against Western Michigan the previous day, only to have its season end in a 6-1 lopsided loss against conference rival North Dakota.
For the second time this month, the Fighting Sioux were able to send the Pioneers home, previously edging out DU 3-2 in double overtime in the WCHA Final Five Championship on March 19.
“[North Dakota] were picked to finished first in the league based upon the number of terrifc seniors on their roster,” said Head Coach George Gwozdecky, “It was a battle between the extremely young and unknown verses senior led North Dakota team and we battled them for the playoff title to advance to the Frozen Four. Certainly there depth of their senior class and all four forward lines was a factor.”
The Pioneers were able to advance in the NCAA tournament for the first time in five seasons, snapping a three-game tournament losing streak; however, they couldn’t extract revenge on a UND squad that had the epicenter of a handful of the Pioneers hardships this season.
With the No. 1 ranked team in the country waiting for the Pioneers, DU knew they were in for a major test after winning a long game the night beofre. DU and North Dakota were no strangers to one another as the two teams had faced off previously 256 times and this was the third time this season alone. The two teams have collected seven national championships respectively.
The Pioneers have had a tough time when facing North Dakota as the Fighting Sioux has posted a 3-1 record against the Pioneers including a 3-2 double overtime victory on March 9 to take the WCHA championship.
“Everybody understood that on the line was a trip to the Frozen Four and the intensity was there because the last two weeks we were playing North Dakota for a championship,” said Gwozdecky.
The Fighting Sioux tallied first when Junior forward Mario Lamoureux went coast-to-coast and scored a shorthanded breakaway goal at the 14:37 mark of the first period giving UND an edge near the end of the first period.
“Right at the end of the powerplay time we got our powerplay guys stuck on the ice and they were able to score which was the real turning point of the game,” said Gwozdecky.
With the period coming to an end, and an expected 1-0 score through the first, WCHA Rookie of the Year Jason Zucker stepped up again banking a shot off the back of Fighting Sioux goaltender Aaron Dell with only .2 seconds remaining. Zucker’s goal brought him to four points in two games in his first NCAA Tournament.
As the intensity picked up in the second period, North Dakota’s Evan Trupp scored a goal at the 7:06 mark. Twelve minutes later North Dakota found themselves on a powerplay when Chay Genoway saucered a pass to forward Brett Hextall who one-timed the puck past a well positioned Brittain giving the Fighting Sioux a 3-1 lead to which they would not look back.
North Dakota scored three more times with goals from Brock Nelson, Brad Malone, and Jake Marto giving them a 6-1 victory, ending the Pioneers season.
“What was apparent in our locker room aside from intensity was confidence. Our guys were very confident that coming out agaisnt North Dakota we could give ourselfs a real good chance,” said Gwozdecky, “Unfortunetly we weren’t able to take a lead.”
In the thrilling overtime victory, of the previous game, WCHA Rookie of the Year Zucker carried the puck into the Broncos zone, fired a wrist shot that was stopped, then proceeded to collect his own rebound as he buried the hopes of Western Michigan when the puck was ripped past Broncos goaltender Jerry Kuhn.
Since DU won the Division I NCAA championship in 2005, the team has underachieved in the NCAA Tournament. Last season the team had the best record in the WCHA and was awarded with coach and player of the year honors, yet lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to the Rochester Institute of Technology Tigers.
The Pioneers, after losing in the WCHA championship game against North Dakota, were awarded the No. 2 seed for the Midwest region in the 2011 NCAA Tournament. The Fighting Sioux who are now a major rival of DU as of late were awarded the No. 1 seed, while Western Michigan had the No. 3 seed and Rensselaer had the No. 4 seed. The Fighting Sioux defeated Rensselaer 6-0 in the first round setting up a rematch of last week’s WCHA championship game.
After touring the historic Lambou Field in Green Bay, Wisc., the Pioneers’ sights remained on earning a trip to the Frozen Four.
The first goal of the night came in the second period when junior forward Derek Roehl picked up a rebound in front of the net and lifted a bank handed shot past DU goaltender Sam Brittain.
As the third period began with the Pioneers down 1-0, the Broncos tallied again when sophomore forward Trevor Elias scored on a rebound that beat Brittain glove side.
Senior captain Kyle Ostrow deflected a beautifully placed centering pass from Zucker past Kuhn giving DU a late powerplay goal.
Two minutes later a faceoff to the right of Kuhn was won by Drew Shore, deflected to Zucker and passed to the open point where sophomore defenseman Matt Donovan wound up and lashed a slap shot past Kuhn tying the game 2-2 late in the third period.
After an improbable comeback late in the third period, DU forward Chris Knowlton found himself wide open in front of Kuhn as he took a shot that rolled just wide of Kuhn’s skate, sending the game into overtime.
Midway through the second overtime period when an evident surge of pressure by DU was present, Zucker established himself as the hero giving the Pioneers the victory.
When asked about the feeling in the locker room after Zucker’s overtime winner Gwozdecky said, “[The victory] was a feeling of accomplishment and joy as well as a feeling of overall fatigue and cramping. Your going into almost two periods of a second game and on the bench we had a lot of issues with cramping.”
The Frozen Four will continue April 7 as No. 7 Minnesota-Duluth will face No. 10 Notre Dame, and No. 1 North Dakota will face No. 4 Michigan.
The Pioneers that will be graduating are Jon Cook, Anthony Maiani, Jesse Martin, Chris Nutini, Kyle Ostrow, Josh Rosenholtz, and John Ryder. Captain Kyle Ostrow will finish his collegiate career with 100 regular season points (55 goals 45 assists).
“Kyle Ostrow and the rest of the captains demonstrated leadership to a great extent this season. Kyle did a tremendous job as our leader, right from day one when our freshman got here he educated the expectations and made them feel like an important part of this team,” said Gwozdecky.
