On Jan. 22 and 23, the DU Pioneers welcomed the University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs to Magness Arena for a National Collegiate Hockey Conference series.
Before the series began, UMD (No. 4) was a single point behind DU (No. 3) in the NCHC standings with 19 points.
Jan. 22’s game began with Colorado Rockies’ first baseman, Ben Paulsen, dropping the puck in honor of the Battle On Blake. The Battle on Blake will take place on Feb. 20 at Coors Field, the home of the Rockies.
UMD would strike first with a goal from sophomore Karson Kuhlman (Esko, Minnesota). A short while later, UMD’s junior forward Dominic Toninato (Duluth, Minnesota) crashed into DU’s sophomore goaltender Tanner Jaillet (Red Deer, Canada). The hit stunned Jaillet and sent his helmet flying. After putting Toninato in a headlock in defense of his goalie, senior captain Grant Arnold (Centennial, Colorado) was sent to the penalty box along with Toninato.
Minutes later, the UMD Bulldogs would score on the Pioneers again. This goal came from senior Austin Farley (Niles, Illinois). Immediately after the goal, Jaillet was pulled from the game and replaced by junior Evan Cowley (Evergreen, Colorado).
During the remainder of the first period, the Pioneers would answer both goals to tie the game. The first DU goal of the night came from junior Matt Marcinew (Calgary, Canada) with assists by Arnold and freshman Blake Hillman (Elk River, Minnesota). Just two and a half minutes later, the Pioneers tied the game at two with a goal from sophomore Danton Heinen (Langley, Canada). Assists on Heinen’s goal came from freshman Dylan Gambrell (Bonney Lake, Washington) and junior Trevor Moore (Thousand Oaks, California).
The second period was uneventful, comparatively. The only goal was Heinen’s second of the night to bring the score to 3-2. Sophomore Tariq Hammond (Calgary, Canada) and Moore tallied the assists.
In the third period of Friday night, no goals were scored. UMD suffered many penalties at the hands of some of their short-tempered players. On one occasion, both senior captain Andy Welinski (Duluth, Minnesota) and sophomore Blake Young (Battleford, Canada) were sent to the penalty box for punching and fighting DU’s Moore. The final score of the game was 3-2 in the Pioneers’ favor.
Saturday’s game on Jan. 23 was no smoother on the fighting front. Fights, largely initiated by the Bulldogs, broke out multiple times across the ice.
The starting line featuring Moore, Gambrell and Heinen continued to dominate for DU.
In the first period, Heinen scored his third goal of the series on a Pioneer power play with assists from Moore and Gambrell. A little while later, the roles reversed and Gambrell put a point up for the Pioneers while Heinen assisted. DU was up on UMD 2-0 by the end of the first period.
UMD would finally get on the board midway through the third period after senior Tony Cameranesi (Plymouth, Minnesota) snuck the puck past Cowley.
With only one minute left in regulation time, UMD’s attempts to tie the game by playing dirty backfired as Welinski was sent to the penalty box for boarding. This penalty put the Pioneers on the power play and UMD’s desperation was visible in their unsportsmanlike behavior.
In the last minute of the game, the referees completely lost control and fights continued to break out between the teams. UMD’s Neal Pionk (Hermantown, Minnesota) and Toninato, along with DU freshman Troy Terry (Denver), would watch the end of the game from the penalty box. After continuing to lose without class, UMD’s senior defenseman Willie Corrin (International Falls, Minnesota) had to be escorted from the team handshake.
DU won with a final score of 2-1 to give them their second NCHC weekend sweep of January.
DU escaped January without losing a single game. The Pioneers are still ranked third in the NCHC with 26 points, while the University of North Dakota is ranked second with 35 points. St. Cloud State University leads the conference with 38 points.
The fight for the NCHC continues next weekend as DU travels to Miami University in Ohio to battle the Redhawks.
