Prepared. Focused. Intense.
These are three ways to describe the Pioneer hockey team’s play in their 2-0 victory Saturday night against St. Cloud State University in Magness Arena. The Pioneers rebounded from a lethargic, uninspired performance Friday night in which they fell to the Huskies of SCSU 3-2 at Magness Arena.
“We needed this game badly,” said DU Head Coach George Gwozdecky of Saturday night’s match up with the No. 4 ranked Huskies. “There was a real sense of urgency to our game, and a type of intensity that was demonstrated by our team. I am proud of them.”
This came a day after one of the Pioneers’ worst performances of the season, in which they coasted through most of Friday’s game.
On Friday, the Pioneers started the game very unfocused, as they made critical turnovers in their own zone, took stupid penalties and missed some good scoring chances.
The Huskies jumped out to the early lead after Pioneer defenseman Zack Blom committed a penalty just over four minutes in. SCSU forward Andrew Gordon, who came into the game as the leading scorer in the WCHA, one-timed a shot off a pretty feed from teammate Andreas Nodl past helpless Pioneer goalie Glenn Fisher for the 1-0 lead.
SCSU continued to pressure the Pioneers for the next 10 minutes, causing all kinds of problems for DU in their defensive zone.
The Huskies would increase their lead to 2-0 when the Pioneers committed a critical turnover in their own zone, leaving Nodl with a wide open slap shot from the top of the circle. The shot blasted over Fisher’s left shoulder and into the top corner for the second goal of the game with just under five minutes left to play in the period.
Although the shots on goal after the first period were in DU’s favor at 11-7, most of the Pioneer chances were from bad angles or too far outside, whereas the Huskies had a good scoring chance on nearly every shot.
The SCSU lead would increase to 3-0, when Nodl buried his second goal of the game into an empty net, as Fisher was caught out of position on a rebound.
The goal gave the Huskies a three-goal advantage only five minutes into the second period, a lead that the Pioneers would not be able to overcome.
Though DU would get goals from forwards Tyler Ruegsegger and Ryan Helgason, the Pioneers couldn’t overcome the deficit and wound up falling 3-2.
“That game was a series of mental errors after mental errors. There was no urgency,” said Gwozdecky of his team’s play. “St. Cloud was ready to play with that emotional edge, and we weren’t.”
The Pioneers, who admittedly had one of their least energetic performances of the season in Friday night’s contest, came out strong to start game two on Saturday. They dominated play early and had some quality scoring chances.
Husky goalie Bobby Goepfart made critical saves to keep the game scoreless. First, he forced a high shot by Pioneer forward Patrick Mullen on a 2-on-1 break, and then, on a shot from the middle of the slot, he made an exceptional shoulder save on DU’s Brock Trotter.
At the halfway mark of the first period, the Pioneers finally found a way to get the puck past Goepfart when they received a 5-on-3 power play.
Freshman defensman Keith Seabrook rifled a wrist shot from the left point that caught a screened Goepfart in the shoulder. The rebound fell just in front of the crease where forward Geoff Paukovich corralled it, spun, and slid the puck between Geopfart’s pads to give the Pioneers a 1-0 lead.
The lead would stay the same through the rest of the first period as the Pioneers continually put pressure on the SCSU defense, causing a number of good scoring opportunities.
The Pioneers out shot the Huskies 18-4 in the opening period with junior goalie Peter Mannino making his first start since coming off a groin injury. He didn’t need to make many saves to keep SCSU off the board.
After a quick flurry of shots by SCSU to start the second period, the Pioneers extended their lead to two goals, when Trotter recorded his 13th goal of the season only 1:23 into the period.
Trotter was left alone on the right side of the goal mouth after defensman Chris Butler’s shot ricocheted off the right post. The puck bounced onto Trotter’s stick and he chipped the puck over Goepfart’s outstretched glove, letting it trickle over the goal line.
The Pioneers were now up 2-0 and looked to be in command of the game.
As the third period came along, SCSU took its energy up a notch, as the Huskies started to Mannino early. The Husky line of Gordon and Nodl started the period by getting three shots on goal, all of which were quality chances.
But, Mannino and the rest of the Pioneers were up to the task, as they made critical defensive stops throughout the period.
After Mannino made an impressive save on a wrap-around attempt by Nodl with two minutes remaining, it was clear that the Pioneers were going to hang on for the win and the shut out.
The 2-0 victory showed a much different Pioneer team from the one the night before.
“We came in a lot harder than we did last night,” said Ruegsegger of his team’s effort. “When you do that, you give yourself a good chance to win, and it paid off.”
With 13 saves, Mannino received his third shutout of the season, and the Pioneers improved to 19-9-2 on the season and stay in third place in the WCHA with a conference record of 11-7-2
The Pioneers are again in action this Friday as they play host to the University of Minnesota- Duluth at Magness Arena. The puck is scheduled to drop at 7:37 p.m. MT.
