After a strong start to the season, with sweeps against Arizona State University and the Air Force Academy, DU hockey has extended its losing streak to four after an away game series against the No. 8 University of North Dakota. The pair of losses come after a bye week for the Crimson and Gold and mark the beginning of conference play.
The first of the two games ended with a score of 3-1 in the Fighting Hawks’ favor. Scoreless in the first period, in the second the game took a quick turn in favor of North Dakota. In less than one minute, Matteo Costantini (St. Catherines, Ontario) and Louis Jamernik (Calgary, Alberta) both tallied a goal, granting the Hawks a two-point lead.
In the same period, DU attempted to close the gap as first-year Massimo Rizzo (Burnaby, B.C.) emerged from the penalty box in the 19th minute to assist senior Cameron Wright (Newark, Ontario) for a last-minute goal. In doing so, Wright created an agency for a third-frame goal for Denver.
The agency remained unfulfilled, despite DU outshooting North Dakota in the final frame 11-6. In desperation, junior goaltender Magnus Chrona (Stockholm, Sweden) cleared the net allowing Fighting Hawk Jamernik to score his second of the night on the undefended goal.
Goaltenders from each team were busy on an offensive night, with Chrona preventing 20 goal attempts while UND’s Zach Driscoll (Apple Valley, Minn.) kept 21 shots from reaching the net. DU was not able to produce points on any of the three power plays but prevented all but one of the opposing team’s five, UND’s only successful power play on the empty net.
Denver did not fare better on the next day’s meeting. The 4-1 loss brings DU’s away-game stretch to an end, as the team returns to Magness Arena for a two-game series against Western Michigan University on Nov. 12.
In the first period, Costantini tallied his second goal for UND, and Tyler Kleven connected after a rebound to give the Hawks an early lead. DU responded in the second period with a goal from senior forward Ryan Barrow (Banff, Alberta) assisted by freshman Jack Devine (Glencoe, Ill.) and senior Brett Stapley (Campbell River, B.C.).
