No. 2 Denver hockey traveled on the road to face the St. Cloud State (SCSU) Huskies on Jan. 20-21. DU lost the first game of the series in overtime, 3-2, while winning the second by a score of 3-1.
Senior forward Emil Romig (Vienna, Austria) took a hooking penalty only six seconds into Denver’s first game, which was representative of the team’s poor Friday night play. SCSU would capitalize on the powerplay with a snipe from the slot on junior goaltender Tanner Jaillet (Red Deer, Alberta) only 51 seconds into the match.
Roughly two minutes later, a resilient Denver squad would answer with a goal of their own. Freshman Henrik Borgstrom (Helsinki, Finland) unloaded a wicked wrister off the rush which beat the goalie high glove-side, evening the game 1-1.
Freshman Liam Finlay (Kelowna, British Columbia) gave DU a 2-1 lead only 2:54 into the second period. SCSU evened the score 2-2 with 27 seconds left in the period when Jaillet allowed a soft goal under his left pad.
Entering the third period, senior Evan Cowley (Evergreen) replaced Jaillet as the Pioneers’ netminder. Cowley put on an impressive performance, making 12 saves.
The teams played to a tie in regulation, but a tip-in goal gave the Huskies the victory in overtime. The Pioneers were fortunate to get close to victory, as they were outshot 43-26 in the game.
Eager to bounce back, Denver gave a better effort on Saturday en route to a 3-1 Pioneer win. DU tied SCSU in shots this time, 38-38.
The Huskies got out to an early 1-0 lead in the first period, but it would be short-lived. A behind the back pass by senior Evan Janssen (Green Bay, Wisconsin) found sophomore Dylan Gambrell (Bonney Lake, Washington) in front of the net for Denver’s equalizer, tying the game 1-1 at 6:18 of the second period. Gambrell and Borgstrom are now tied for the team lead in points with 23.
Hungry in front of the net, sophomore Jarid Lukosevicius (Squamish, British Columbia) chipped home an unassisted goal only minutes later to secure a 2-1 lead for the visiting Pioneers.
A successful powerplay, which was one-for-one on the night, helped DU to a 3-1 lead early in the final frame when freshman Michael Davis (St. Louis, Missouri) sniped the goaltender glove-side. A strong penalty kill (two-for-two, one-for-one in the third period) also aided the Pioneers in their 16th win of the season.
DU will host the University of Nebraska-Omaha on Jan. 27 and 28 in their next live-game action.
