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The Pioneer hockey team faced off with Alabama-Huntsville, the worst team in NCAA Division I hockey, over the weekend, splitting the series with a stunning 3-2 loss Friday before avoiding a sweep with a 5-2 win Saturday.
With Friday’s loss, the Pioneers (11-8-3) became only the second team to lose to UAH (2-22-1) this season. Moreover, the team’s postseason goals took a drastic hit as DU tumbled from No. 10 to No. 19 in the national rankings.
According to The Denver Post, Friday’s loss may have severe consequences later in the season, specifically in regard to PairWise Rankings, the system used to seed the 16-team NCAA Tournament. To remain eligible for the tournament, Denver will either have to finish the regular season extremely strong or win the WCHA tournament.
After Friday’s loss, Denver’s PairWise ranking dropped from 14th to a three-way tie for 20th. However, Saturday’s 5-2 victory moved the team up to 18th.
The unexpected loss also dropped DU out of the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll for the first time in almost six years.
The Pioneers, who have 14 WCHA games remaining, have made an appearance in the NCAA Tournament the past four years.
During the first match-up of the weekend, the team started slowly with only one Pioneer shot on goal in the first eight minutes, but picked up quickly with eight shots on goal in the next six minutes.
Center Shawn Ostrow started the scoring for the Pioneers in the eighth minute of the first period, assisted by defenseman Joey LaLeggia.
Forward Ty Loney followed shortly with the Pioneers’ second goal, scoring on a power play in the 12th minute off an assist from center Nick Shore and defenseman Scott Mayfield.
Alabama-Huntsville’s Justin Cseter answered DU with a goal in the 16th minute for the final score of the first period. The Pioneers entered the locker room leading the Chargers 2-1 with a 12-10 shot-on-goal advantage.
The Pioneers’ performance steadily declined during the following two periods, resulting in a pair of UAH goals by forward Mac Roy and a final score of 3-2.
Clark Saunders, UAH goalie, tallied 41 stops Friday.
Despite Denver’s 43-20 shot on goal advantage over Alabama-Huntsville, they were unable to clinch the expected victory.
Denver came out much stronger on Saturday, scoring their first goal within the first two minutes of the game.
“I think sweating is part of this team’s DNA; those are the symptoms,” said Gwozdecky. “At this point of our season, we get back into league play and you really have to think, ‘Okay boys, from all the things we’ve gone through, all the things we’ve learned, good and bad, enough is enough.’ We really have to concentrate on getting into a consistent pattern where we give ourselves a chance to win every night. And tonight we did that, and all we can do is build on that.”
The Shore brothers, junior Drew Shore and sophomore Nick Shore, started the Pioneers off strong, each scoring a goal within the first eleven minutes of the game.
“I don’t know if I have ever seen that team under that kind of urgent pressure all year long,” said head coach George Gwozdecky. “This team knew that, first of all, we made some bad mistakes [Friday], and they knew that loss could really, really hurt us down the road.”
Center Nick Shore opened the scoring just shy of two minutes into the game off an assist from Ostrow and LaLeggia. In the ninth minute, Drew Shore scored on a power play off an assist from Loney and LaLeggia.
“Nick Shore has been playing well but has not been able to find the back of the net,” said Gwozdecky. “Having him score that first goal really gave him a lift, gave us a lift and was really something we needed early.”
UAH found the net at the end of the first period when Cseter scored his second goal of the weekend.
Both contests were physical and aggressive with at least five fights, one of which resulted in a 10-minute misconduct penalty because of Roy for cross-checking. However, according to Gwozdecky, it was part of the Pioneers’ game plan to play more aggressively.
“We struggled at times last night, and I thought tonight we were more physical in our own zone and really didn’t allow them to have possession of the puck for long periods of time,” Gwozdecky said.
Denver scored their next three goals in the second period, all within seven minutes.
Defenseman John Lee scored in the 12th minute of the second period, stretching the Pioneer lead to 3-1. Mayfield also found the net in the 16th minute of the second period off an assist from forwards Luke Salazar and Loney. Ostrow put in Denver’s third goal with two seconds left in the period off an assist from defenseman Josiah Didier.
The third period was less eventful for DU, who scored no goals and gave up one while being outshot 14-8.
“I was a little animated behind the bench, yes, because we got very reckless with the puck in the third period,” said Gwozdecky. “I wasn’t happy because it created all kinds of issues for us where Adam [Murray] had to save.”
Charger forward Michael Webley scored the final goal of the game in the second minute of the third period, leaving the final score at 5-2.
The Pioneers will continue their battle for a spot in the NCAA tournament as they host Bemidji State this weekend. The puck drops at 7:37 p.m. Friday and 7:07 p.m. Saturday.
