The No. 6 Pioneers fell to the No. 10 Duke Blue Devils as the Blue Devils used a lucky bounce from a missed pass that led to a wide open shot for Duke. Joey Manown for Duke scored the game-winning goal with 6.9 left in the game.

On a soggy surface, the Pioneers and Blue Devils split the first quarter 1-1 with junior Short Stick Defensive Midfielder Danny Logan (Upper Arlington, Ohio) getting the lone goal for the Pioneers. During the second quarter, the Pioneers were able to make a 2-0 run with goals from sophomore midfielder Jack Hannah (Milford, Ohio) and sophomore Ted Sullivan (Tucson, Ariz.). The Blue Devils were able to get one back on the Pioneers and make the score 3-2. With five seconds left in the shot clock, senior Colton Jackson (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) launched a shot from downtown through Blue Devil defenders to make it 4-2 in the second quarter. The Pioneers would enter into the locker room with a two-goal advantage and only allow the Blue Devils three shots on cage in the first half.

The second half would intensify as the Pioneers would go up to a 6-2 lead in the third with goals from senior defenseman Dylan Johnson (Englewood, Colo.) and Sullivan’s second of the game. The Blue Devils had other plans as they began their 7-1 run that spanned into the fourth quarter to take a 9-7 lead behind Joe Robertson’s hat trick. Freshman Ellis Geis (Tustin, Calif.) had the lone goal for the Pioneers during the Blue Devil run. Geis was able to get his second of the game with only 2:55 left to play to help get the Pioneers within one. After a crucial ground ball off a faceoff scrum and Pioneer timeout, freshman Alex Simmons (Smithville, Ontario) was able to level the score at nine with a screamer just over the stick of the Blue Devil netminder. On the ensuing faceoff, the Blue Devils were able to get the ball and push down the field. An errant pass to the middle of the field left the ball bouncing straight for Duke’s Joey Manown who had a wide open look at the Denver goal and capitalized on his opportunity.

The Pioneers will look to bounce back at home against newly-minted D1 program Utah on Saturday, Feb. 23 at 1:30 p.m. MST and on Sunday, Feb. 24 at 1:30 p.m. MST against Cleveland State in the 2019 Faceoff Classic.

Update: In the latest rankings, released Feb. 18, Denver dropped down to No. 9 while Duke moved up to No. 5.