After battling two close games this weekend, the No. 4-ranked Pioneers (15-6-2, 11-4-1) completed a series sweep over the Michigan Tech Huskies (5-17-2, 1-13-2), defeating them 4-3 in overtime on Friday, and 3-1 Saturday.

“I thought we took advantage of some of the things Tech was giving us,” said head coach George Gwozdecky. “Especially their swarming defensive coverage and to continue to get the puck to the backside of the ice.

“I thought we worked very hard and I thought obviously without two of your top offensive guys in the line up we had to adjust a little bit of what we wanted to do.”

Missing from Saturday’s lineup was junior forward Tyler Ruegsegger due to projectile vomiting, which occurred during Saturday’s pregame speech, according to Gwozdecky.

Also absent has been sophomore Tyler Bozak, one of DU’s leading scorers. Bozak tore his meniscus in a knee-on-knee collision with Minnesota State’s Andrew Sackrison on Dec. 12.

According to Gwozdecky, Bozak will undergo a lengthy rehabilitation program aiming to return to the ice for Denver’s postseason.

This is the second consecutive season that the Pioneers have had to adjust to losing a leading scorer midway through the season. Last January, sophomore forward Brock Trotter signed a three-year contract with the Montreal Canadiens, forgoing the remainder of his collegiate career.

Despite the adjusted line up, the Pioneers were able to pull off the two wins thanks to the performance of sophomore goaltender Marc Cheverie who stopped 61 of 65 shots during the series to mark his 15th win of the season.

On Friday, the Huskies netted their first goal 7:18 into the first period. Senior captain J.P. Testwuide evened the game scoring 3:33 into the second period off a pass from sophomore Kyle Ostrow and freshman Nate Dewhurst.

Michigan Tech regained the lead with 12:50 remaining in the period, but the Pioneers were able to once again even the score on a power-play from freshman Joe Colbourne assisted by freshmen Luke Salazar and Patrick Wiercioch with less than six minutes remaining in the period.

The score remained a 2-2 tie going into the final period, but DU gained the lead for the first time in the game as junior Rhett Rakhshani netted his ninth goal of the season assisted by Ruegsegger and Colbourne.

With a mere 1:02 remaining of play, the Huskies pulled goaltender Rob Nolan in an attempt to push the game into overtime. Six seconds later Michigan Tech tied the game 3-3 unassisted.

Sophomore Anthony Maiani slid in the game-winning goal with just 16 seconds remaining in overtime, assisted by sophomore Jesse Martin and Wiercioch.

Saturday’s game was similar in many respects. Denver scored the first goal midway through the first period as Martin netted a shot from Patrick Mullen and Wiercioch.

“I like to get off to a good start,” Cheverie said on the team’s early lead. “Our team hasn’t gotten off to great starts the past couple of games. You just have to make every save you can, never give up one in the pocket and I got lucky and made those saves today, so it was good.”

In the final seconds of the stanza the Huskies were able to even the score firing a 4-on-3 power-play goal past Cheverie.

The Pioneers regained the lead with four minutes remaining in the middle stanza as Ostrow scored on a pass from Mullen and Testwuide.

After a scoreless 19 minutes of the final period, Michigan Tech once again pulled their goalie in an effort to similarly push the game into overtime, but was unsuccessful.

The Pioneers were able to tally a final goal making it a 3-1 game as Rakhshani netted his second goal of the series in the empty net.

“Two wins and a good start to the second half of the WCHA season,” Gwozdecky said. “We have 12 games to go and now we have a chance to get a little stronger.”

The Pioneers remain in first place in the WCHA with 23 points.

“That was a big win for us and now we have to keep it going against North Dakota,” Cheverie said. “Both teams played really well defensively (tonight) and that’s the way the second half of the season is going to be.”

Denver’s next game will be on Jan. 23 when they travel to Grand Forks, N.D. for a key two-game series against the Fighting Sioux.