On Feb. 12 and 13, the Pioneers hosted the Fighting Hawks of the University of North Dakota. Despite a vast sea of green that seemed to infiltrate Magness Arena, the Pioneers could not be stopped. Entering the series, DU was ranked No. 3 in the NCHC with 29 points and UND was tied for first with St. Cloud State University with 41.
Friday’s game was an incredibly intense battle. The Fighting Hawks struck first with a goal from freshman Christian Wolanin (Rochester, Michigan).
A few minutes later, the Pioneers evened the field after assists from senior Nolan Zajac (Winnipeg, Canada) and junior Matt Marcinew (Calgary, Canada) led to a goal by senior captain Grant Arnold (Centennial, Colorado).
The first score of the second period would put the Pioneers ahead. Six minutes into the period, junior Trevor Moore (Thousand Oaks, California) scored on an assist from sophomore and Boston Bruins prospect Danton Heinen (Langley, Canada).
The game would become tied again after junior Troy Stetcher (Richmond, Canada) scored for the Fighting Hawks. The Pioneers would head into second intermission after a goal from sophomore Adam Plant (Penticton, Canada) brought the score to 3-2.
The third period began a bit roughly for the Pioneers. UND spent the first two minutes crowded in front of sophomore goaltender Tanner Jaillet (Red Deer, Canada). Freshman Brock Boeser (Burnsville, Minnesota) scored on Jaillet to tie the game for the third time.
The tie did not last long, as DU’s top line continued to prove they are one of the most prolific in all of college hockey. The score became 4-3 with the Pioneers leading after Moore passed to Heinen who scored on UND sophomore goaltender Cam Johnson.
With just under four minutes left in the game, senior Quentin Shore (Denver, Colorado) scored to bring a two-goal lead to DU. However, exactly thirty seconds later, UND scored again to make the score 5-4. In a last ditch effort to tie the game again, UND pulled Johnson from goal and Heinen was able to score on the empty net to secure a Pioneer win. The final score was 6-4.
On Saturday Feb. 13, the Pioneers started off very roughly with passes missing their marks and very few shots on goal. With the Pios struggling, freshman Dylan Gambrell (Bonney Lake, Washington) scored on the team’s second shot on goal of the game. The assists came from Heinen and Moore.
In what seemed like a Friday night flashback, the Fighting Hawks scored only thirty seconds later to tie the game at one. After a pretty sloppy period, the Pioneers went to the locker room lucky to be tied.
The Pioneers began the second period on a power play after Boeser was sent to the penalty box for a hooking penalty. Immediately after the power play ended, the Pioneers scored a go-ahead goal. Senior Gabe Levin (Marina del Rey, California) assisted Jarid Lukosevicius (Squamish, Canada) on the goal.
The third period was prolific for the Pioneers, and especially Jaillet, who played an incredible game keeping UND to only one goal.
With four minutes left in the game, Moore scored on an assist from junior Will Butcher (Sun Prairie, Wisconsin) to lengthen the Pioneer lead to two. Gambrell scored on an empty net to bring the final score to 4-1.
The Pioneers are peaking at the perfect time and defeating UND, the No. 2 ranked team in the nation, provided Denver with much-needed morale for the approaching playoffs.
Next weekend, the Pioneers travel to Colorado College in Colorado Springs for a Feb. 19 game against the Tigers.
On Feb. 20, the Pioneers and the Tigers will compete at Coors Field for the Battle on Blake.
