The then-No. 7 Pioneers dropped both games in their weekend series at St. Cloud State. The then-No. 19/NR Huskies upended Denver 5-2 Friday and 5-1 Saturday, sending Denver to No. 10/11 in the national rankings and jumping St. Cloud State up to No. 16/15.
Both games were played on Olympic-size ice, marking only the second and third times that the team has played on an ice that size this season, the first being at Colorado College in December. According to Gwozdecky, this ice size presents a different and unfamiliar challenge for the team.
The weekend losses drop Denver to 13-8-4 overall and 8-6-4 in the WCHA, marking the first time the team has lost both games in a weekend WCHA series since doing so against St. Cloud State in the 2008-2009 season, snapping a 60-game streak of two-game series without being swept.
“We really were not very good,” said head coach George Gwozdecky. “I give full credit to St. Cloud; they played very well and really put a lot of pressure on us. In our zone, we were poor defensively, we were poor when we got possession of the puck and we turned it over a number of times.”
Puck control, which has plagued the team throughout the season, was a deciding factor against the fast-paced St. Cloud State team. After suffering from too many turnovers and too much puck mishandling, the Pioneers were dominated by the Huskies.
“In this league, no matter who you’re playing, especially a talented offensive team like St. Cloud, they’re going to make you pay, and they did. We weren’t very good, and it’s disappointing. Too many of our go-to guys had off nights, and I don’t know why that is.”
Three different Pioneers found the net throughout the weekend, marking the three goals put up in the losses. Sophomore forward Zac Larraza scored his sixth of the season and fourth in the past three games on Friday. Junior forward Nick Shore scored his 10th goal of the season on Friday, and sophomore defenseman Joey LaLeggia netted Denver’s lone goal Saturday for his eighth of the season.
Two of Denver’s goaltenders also saw action this weekend, with sophomore Juho Olkinuora playing Friday and junior Sam Brittain defending on Saturday. Olkinuora made 33 saves, but was tagged with his first loss since falling to Yale on Nov. 23, while Brittain stopped 31 shots in his first action since Dec. 8.
In Friday’s game, Larraza put the first point up on the board in the second period after a deadlocked first period when junior defenseman David Makowski ripped a slapshot for Larraza to redirect into the goal.
St. Cloud State followed with two goals of their own from junior forwards Cory Thorson and Nic Dowd to take their first lead of the game.
Shore leveled the score to 2-2 just 2:47 into the final stanza as he rebounded a shot by sophomore forward Ty Loney on a breakaway.
The Huskies then scored three unanswered goals in the final nine minutes of regulation to make the score its final 5-2. Junior defenseman Nick Jensen chipped in two in a row before sophomore forward Nick Oliver added an empty-net goal for St. Cloud.
On Saturday, the Pioneers looked to avenge Friday’s loss, but were kept at bay by the Huskies, who scored four straight before being answered by the Pioneers.
The Pioneers were met, once again, by the Huskies’ strong offense, who outshot Denver 10-2 in the first six minutes of the game, forcing Brittain to make 19 saves in the first stanza.
St. Cloud continued their momentum from Friday night and got on the board first, beating Brittain with just 42.2 seconds remaining before the first intermission. Redshirt freshman forward David Morley capitalized on a Denver penalty to net a power-play goal for the Huskies, giving St. Cloud State a 1-0 advantage heading into the locker room.
Morley took advantage of another power-play opportunity five minutes into the second period to extend St. Cloud’s lead to 2-0.
The Huskies refused to let up, adding a pair of goals within 1:09 of each other. Dowd picked up his second of the weekend and 11th of the season before senior forward Drew LeBlanc chipped in one of his own, pushing the score to 4-0.
LaLeggia saved Denver from the shutout with a power-play goal with 10 minutes remaining in the game, burying a one-timer in the back of the net off a pass from Makowski.
Less than two minutes later, Hanowski regained St. Cloud State’s four-goal lead with his ninth goal of the season, making the score its final 5-1 and completing the sweep of the Pioneers.
Denver will have a bye this weekend before returning to the road to face-off with Minnesota Duluth for a conference series Feb. 1-2.
Minnesota Duluth is currently ranked No. 6 in the WCHA, compared to Denver who sits in a fifth-place tie. The Bulldogs (10-11-3, 8-7-3 WCHA) and the Pioneers went 1-1-1 in their three meetings last season, with Denver prevailing over Minnesota Duluth in the second game of the Final Five conference tournament.
