After having last week off, the No. 15 ranked Pioneers returned to the hockey rink this weekend to take on St. Cloud State University in Minnesota. Denver tied in Friday’s game, earning a shootout win 3-2, before losing Saturday’s rematch 2-4. This was the fourth time DU had squared off against the 5th ranked Huskies this season, completing the season series with a 1-2-1 record. Denver moves to 13-9-6 on the season with a 7-6-3 mark in the conference while St. Cloud moves to 15-6-5 while going 9-4-3 in conference play.

Friday’s match was a back-and-forth affair. Nic Dowd gave the Huskies an early lead in the first period before a power play goal by junior Ty Loney tied the game. St. Cloud would take the lead again late in the second period. Freshman phenom Trevor Moore continued his outstanding season with a late third period goal to force the game into overtime.

Moore came up big again with a shootout goal to help DU win the shootout 3-2. Sophomores Nolan Zajac and Gabe Levin also added goals in the shootout victory. Senior goalie Sam Brittain recorded 26 saves in the tie and added three shootout saves.

Saturday’s game started with promise for the Pioneers as junior Daniel Dormeus and freshman Will Butcher both scored second period goals to give DU a 2-0 lead. The wheels began to come off for Denver soon after, however, as St. Cloud’s Nic Dowd scored a late second period goal to get the Huskies back in the game. That gave way to three third period goals by St. Cloud to give the Huskies a 4-2 win over Denver.
The silver lining on the weekend is the continued success of freshman Trevor Moore. Moore recorded a goal and two assists this weekend to bring his point total up to 24 and his plus-minus rating to +9, both the best on the team. He is currently first on the team in goals (11) and third in assists (13).

The win and tie allowed St. Cloud State to move up to first place in the NCHC again with 30 conference points on the year. Meanwhile the Pioneers slip down to a fifth place tie in the conference with 26 conference points. Denver still has eight games remaining on their schedule, all of which are NCHC opponents.

This weekend, the Pioneers will head to Omaha to take on the University of Nebraska Omaha Mavericks. The Mavericks are currently 11-13-2 on the season with an 8-6-2 mark against NCHC opponents. Denver took on Nebraska Omaha early in the season, losing both games 3-2 in overtime losses in Denver.