Photo by: Greg Lau
Since playing the University of Alaska-Anchorage Dec. 12, the Pioneer men’s hockey team has failed to earn a sweep of a WCHA weekend series after splitting last weekend’s games with the Bulldogs of Minnesota-Duluth at Magness Arena.
The Pioneers came out strong to open the weekend with an impressive 5-2 victory on Friday night. But the celebration would be short-lived, as the Pioneers fell 6-4 in a barn burner Saturday night.
Friday’s game began with both teams moving the puck well end to end, but failing to get any substantial scoring chances, until two minutes into the game when Bulldog Trent Palm was called for a hooking penalty.
The Pioneers took little time to capitalize on the opportunity, when sophomore defenseman Chris Butler’s shot from the point deflected off a player in front an came to freshman forward Brock Trotter, who quickly buried the rebound for his fourteenth goal of the season.
Taking the early lead, the Pioneers controlled much of the play for the rest of the first period. Even when DU found itself shorthanded, the Pioneers still got the best of UMD.
After junior Ryan Dingle was in the box for a slashing penalty with just under 10 minutes left in the first period, the Pioneers got their best scoring chance of the period. A soft clearing attempt out of the Pioneer zone left the puck at center ice for Trotter, who was able to use his speed to out-skate the Bulldog defender. He cut down the left side, broke in front of the net and slid the puck through the UMD goaltender Alex Stalock. The puck just barely nicked the inside of Stalock’s pad and slid off target.
The period would end with the Pioneers holding a 1-0 lead heading into the second period.
The Pioneers started the second period fast, playing hard into the UMD zone, creating turnovers and shots on goal.
Then, just over four minutes into the period, the Pioneers were given a power play when a UMD forward ran over DU goaltender Peter Mannino after a failed two-on-one break.
The Pioneers displayed all of their offensive talent on the power play, moving the puck smoothly and with ease from player to player, circling the UMD net. A quick give-and-go pass from freshman Rhett Rakhshani gave Trotter the chance to snipe a one-timed shot from the left side of the net. After the puck appeared to bury just under the cross bar and then come back out, some of the Pioneers started to celebrate, and the play eased up. But, there was no whistle or referee signal to acknowledge the goal. Being the first to realize this, Dingle grabbed the loose puck on the right side of the goal and was able to beat Stalock to the short side.
The Pioneers now held a two-goal lead barely five minutes into the second period, and were given what looked to be a great chance to increase the lead to three, when a UMD player took another ill-advised penalty.
But, the Pioneer power play wouldn’t last long, as junior forward Geoff Paukovich was escorted to the box for unsportsmanlike conduct after yelling several times at the referee while play was going on.
The penalty cost the Pioneers the power play and a great deal of momentum in the game.
The Bulldogs began to hound Mannino, pouring shots on him. UMD got its first goal of the game, after Bulldog forward Andrew Carroll chipped in a rebound chance over Mannino’s outstretched pad, decreasing the DU lead to one goal.
However, the Pioneers would answer when they were given a power play with two minutes left in the period. Attempting to gain the offensive zone, Paukovich lost control of the puck just inside the UMD blue line. The puck slid right onto teammate Brian Gifford’s stick, he quickly turned and fired a wrist shot from just uder the right face-off dot that beat Stalock to the short side.
The Pioneers now held a 3-1 lead as the third period opened. The Bulldogs started out fast, knocking the lead back down one, when forward Josh Meyers buried a pretty cross-slot feed from teammate Matt Niskanen.
The score was 3-2 when Trotter took an untimely penalty with 13 minutes left. After a number of strong saves for Mannino, Trotter jumped out of the penalty box, receiving a clearing pass from sophomore Patrick Mullen. Trotter corralled the puck, bringing it into the UMD zone for a 2-on-1 break with linemate Tyler Ruegsegger. Trotter held the puck until the last moment and then slid a pass through the defensman and onto Ruegseger’s tape. Ruegsegger buried the chance to give the Pioneers a 4-2 lead.
The Pioneer lead increased to 5-2, when Rakhshani blasted a slap shot from the right face-off circle past Stalock, to give the Pioneers a three-goal lead that they would not relinquish.
Trotter and Ruegsegger both finished the game with three points, each recording a goal and two assists. Mannino made 19 saves to record the win.
Though the score appeared to be a rout, Pioneer Head Coach George Gwozdecky felt that the Bulldogs shouldn’t be underestimated.
“They have a good team, a skilled team,” said Gwozdecky of his Friday night opponents. “I was very impressed with Duluth tonight.”
The next night, UMD showed the Pioneer fans at Magness Arena just how good they are.
Special teams proved to be the deciding factor, as the Bulldogs scored three goals on the power play and added two shorthanded to hand the lethargic Pioneers a 6-4 loss.
The Bulldogs struck first, when forward Brian McGregor cherry picked behind the Pioneer defense for a short handed break away that he slid past senior goalie Glenn Fisher.
Rakhshani got the Pioneers on the board on the same power play, tying the game at 1-1 with just over a minute left in the first.
The Bulldogs would come out hard in the second, scoring twice and taking a 3-1 lead.
The Pioneers fired back though, and after a Viedeman blast from the point and a pretty breakaway move by Rakhshani, the score was evened at 3-3.
When the Pioneers were given a power play with five minutes remaining, it looked as though it was their turn to take control of the game. But, after Bulldog Mason Raymond beat Fisher shorthanded, the Pioneers were down 4-3 heading into the third period.
After Paukovich was able to tie the game at 4-4, McGregor put the Bulldogs up for good when he scored a power-play goal with 6:50 left in the game.
The Bulldogs added an empty-netter for the 6-4 victory.
“We had our chances to win it. We had our chances to tie it. There are certain little bright spots that you can pick out of a game like this,” said Gwozdecky of his team’s loss. “It was what it was; we were not proud of the game.”
The loss dropped the Pioneers to 20-10-2 (12-8-2 WCHA) on the season, and marked the fourth straight time that DU has failed to win both games of a WCHA series.
The Pioneers will look for the sweep this weekend as they head north to take on the Huskies of Michigan Tech this weekend in Houghton, Mich. The puck drops Friday at 5:07 p.m. MT.
