On Jan. 15 and 16, DU hockey welcomed the Western Michigan University Broncos to Magness Arena for another National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) showdown. DU is ranked No. 3 in the NCHC, while Western Michigan is ranked No. 6.
DU jumped ahead of Western Michigan on Jan. 15 after only two minutes of play.
Junior Emil Romig (Vienna, Austria) put the first point on the board after assists from Colin Staub (Colorado Springs, Colorado) and Matt VanVoorhis (Edina, Minnesota).
The Broncos would strike halfway through the first period after crowding in front of the net led to freshman Griffen Molino (Trenton, Michigan) sneaking the puck past DU sophomore goalie Tanner Jaillet (Red Deer, Canada).
With a minute left in the first period and a DU power play underway, freshman Troy Terry (Denver, Colorado) returned the Pioneers lead to one. The assists came from the sticks of senior defenseman Nolan Zajac (Winnipeg, Canada) and freshman Blake Hillman (Elk River, Minnesota).
In the second period, the Pioneers lead increased by one more after VanVoorhis assisted senior Quentin Shore’s (Denver, Colorado) first goal of the night.
Senior captain Grant Arnold (Centennial, Colorado) was sent to the penalty box for clipping, which allowed junior Sheldon Dries (Macomb, Michigan) to score one for the Broncos. Six minutes later, Shore scored his second goal of the night after the puck hit the crossbar and ricocheted behind the Broncos’ goalie.
With 2:45 remaining in the game, junior Evan Janssen (Green Bay, Wisconsin) was sent to the penalty box. The Broncos then pulled their goalie to give them a six-on-four advantage. Dries scored his second goal of the night on the advantage, bringing the score to 4-3.
The game ended with junior Matt Marcinew’s (Calgary, Canada) empty net goal, giving the Pioneers a 5-3 victory.
The second game of the series on Jan. 16 did not go as well.
The Pioneers won the opening faceoff and no goals were scored until the very end of the first period. Denver was unable to capitalize on a five-on-three opportunity at the end of the first, but after the first penalty ended, the Pioneers still had some time with a man advantage.
Senior alternate captain Gabe Levin (Marina del Rey, California) scored on the power play with 1.2 seconds remaining in the period to send the Pioneers to intermission with a 1-0 lead.
The second period was completely scoreless.
Marcinew scored for the Pioneers on a power play in the third period. The puck just barely crossed the line and was ruled a goal. Assists on the play came from freshman Dylan Gambrell (Bonney Lake, Washington) and sophomore Adam Plant (Penticton, Canada).
Just a few seconds later, the Broncos answered with a goal. After pulling Hafner from goal, the Broncos would score again.
The game was sent to overtime and while neither team scored during the five-on-five overtime, the Broncos scored in a three on three overtime to win an extra point in NCHC standings.
DU is hosting the University of Minnesota-Duluth on the weekend of Jan. 22-23 at Magness Arena.
