Photo by: David Stewart
The Pioneers hockey team completed exhibition play this past weekend, taking on the U.S. U-18 team at Magness Arena.
Solid goaltending from freshman Juho Olkinuora and sophomore Beau Bennett’s two power play goals helped the Pioneers to a 3-0 victory. Freshman Zac Larraza tacked on the Pioneer’s third goal in the third period, ensuring the victory.
“[Olkinuora] was not scheduled to play,” said Pioneer head coach George Gwozdecky. “I was impressed with his play considering he wasn’t expecting to play.”
Bennett started the scoring as he tallied a goal from the right of goaltender Collin Olson at the 14:43 mark of the first period.
After two periods, DU led 1-0. Bennett found twine again in the third period at the 14:29 mark, spacing the Pioneer’s lead to 2-0. As time dwindled down on the young U.S. team, Larraza, junior Jerrod Mermis and sophomore Shawn Ostrow completed a nifty tic-tac-toe passing play behind the net which ultimately found Larraza unguarded in front of the net, where he was able to beat Olson putting the DU up 3-0 with just over four minutes remaining in the contest.
“Beau Bennett has really improved in his physical game,” said Gwozdecky. “The experience he gained last year and learning how aggressive and assertive he needs to be with the puck is certainly evident right now. Having Beau score and be part of our offense right off the bat is importan for us.”
The contest also featured the play of three of the four Shore brothers. Denver recruit Quentin Shore suited up against older brothers Drew and Nick Shore of the Pioneers. Quentin is expected to join the Pioneers for the 2012-2013 season.
“It is very rare when three brothers are on the same ice sheet,” said Gwozdecky. “I know that Drew got a lot of ripping in the locker room after losing the opening face-off to Quentin.”
The Pioneers played a trio of goaltenders as junior Adam Murray, junior Zack Hope and Olkinuora combined for a 22 shot shutout. Murray, who started the game, only played the first period after suffering a reported lower body injury.
With exhibition hockey in the rearview mirror, the Pioneers will head to Boston next weekend to take on Boston College (2-0) on Oct. 14 and Boston University (1-1) on Oct. 15 as they begin regular season play.
No. 1 BC comes into the regular season after a 5-3 victory over No. 6 ranked North Dakota on Saturday. The victory resulted in the 2011 Ice Breaker Tournament going to the Eagles. BC’s line of juniors Pat Mullen and Steven Whitney and freshman Johnny Gaudreau were stellar against the Fighting Sioux as they combined for nine points (four goals, five assists) in the contest. Also participating in the 15th annual Ice Breaker Tournament were Michigan State and Air Force.
“They are very impressive as they played against North Dakota and Michigan State last weekend,” said Gwozdecky. “Boston College looked eerily similar to the team that played against us last season. They move the puck well, they skate well, and its tough to find a weakness in their team. We haven’t played a team yet that plays at the same speed at Boston College does, so we will need to play a high tempo.
Gaudreau comes to BC after winning United States Hockey League Rookie of the Year in 2010-2011 with the Dubuque Fighting Saints. In two games for BC, Gaudreau has recorded one goal and three assists.
“[Gaudreau] is a dynamic player,” said Gwozdecky. “He is not very big, but he is lighting-fast and hard to cover.
Last season, the Pioneers hosted the Eagles twice at Magness Arena. Both times DU came up short as BC took a 6-2 and 3-0 victory back to Boston. The last time DU defeated the Eagles was Jan. 2 2010, when the Pioneers defeated the Golden Eagles 4-3 in route to winning the 2010 Denver Cup.
No. 8 Boston University is entering its 90th collegiate hockey season and will return 85 percent of their scoring from a season ago. The Terriers only lost one forward, one defenseman and one goalie from last year’s squad that missed the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 20 years.
The Terriers are coming off a 5-0 beat down on No. 12 New Hampshire on Saturday. Terriers senior goaltender Kieran Millan made 35 saves in the shutout while earning a program-tieing record 62 career victories.
Ideally you want to score on any goalie early, but Millan is tough to get to at any point of the game,” said Gwozdecky. “BU has an outstanding goaltender in Milan and will be tough to face.
The Terriers found scoring from five different players in their victory over UNH as junior Wade Megan and senior Corey Trvino were able to score in the second period giving BU a 2-0 lead after two periods. The Terriers then scored three goals in the third period coming from sophomore Matt Nieto, junior Alex Chiasson and senior Kevin Gilroy.
The Terrier’s record stands at 1-1 as they came up short against St. Francis Xavier on Oct. 1. Both teams will be in action the night before they meet as BU travels to Rhode Island to take on the Providence Friars.
The Pioneers head into the 2011-2012 regular season after tieing McGill University on Oct. 1 and defeating the U.S. U-18 team on Oct. 7. With two non-conference matchups this weekend in Boston, the Pioneers will begin WCHA conference play on Oct. 21 against Minnesota State at Magness Arena.
