The No. 16-ranked Pioneers took on the University of Minnesota-Duluth (UMD) Bulldogs last weekend, continuing to rack up points as they took home a win and a tie.
Friday night the Pios skated away with a win on the back of a game-winning goal in overtime. They returned to the rink Saturday, where neither team could pull ahead, as the game ended in a 2-2 tie.
The Pioneers took a lead in Friday’s game with junior Zac Larraza’s second period goal. Freshman Matt Marcinew added to the lead in the third period before UMD began to fight back. Two late-game scores by UMD players Caleb Herbert and Tony Cameranes forced the game into overtime.
Quentin Shore proved to be the hero for the Pioneers as his goal ended the game 4:15 into overtime, just seconds before a potential tie. The goal was Shore’s fifth of the season, although he would improve on that number by the end of the series.
Saturday’s game saw the Pioneers trailing for most of the match as Minnesota Duluth’s Alex Iafallo’s first period goal would stand alone until DU’s Ty Loney put in an equalizer early in the third period. Iafallo’s good night continued, however, as he put UMD back on top late in the third period with his eighth goal of the season.
Shore again came up big, tying the game with minutes remaining. He sent the game into overtime, yet neither team was able to score the golden goal, sending the match to a shootout. Denver would eventually lose the shootout as Iafallo added another score to help UMD gain the extra point in the tie game.
Goaltender Sam Brittain continued to have success in his senior season, allowing just four goals over the weekend in what included a 40 save performance Saturday night. As a result, Brittain earned NCHC Goalie of the Week honors for the fifth time this season. The senior ranks first in the NCHC’s goalie save percentage (.935), wins (12) and second place in goals allowed per game (2.04).
This weekend’s games have Denver only two points behind St. Cloud State in the conference rankings with 21 and 23 conference points respectively. Meanwhile, Minnesota-Duluth falls to sixth in the conference rankings.
DU will take on streaking University of North Dakota (UND) this weekend in another pivotal conference matchup. UND has gone 8-0-1 in its last nine games.
