Photo by: Charles Ng
For those who skipped last Friday’s hockey game because they were partying missed a great battle. In a heart stopping game, Denver beat No. 1 ranked North Dakota, 1-0.
The win catapults Denver into the final four of college hockey for the first time since 1986.
After beating Miami of Ohio 3-2, the Pioneers were slated to play the top seed in their bracket. Held at the World Arena in Colorado Springs, Denver took on top-ranked North Dakota Fighting Sioux, recognized by the NCAA as the best college hockey team in the country. North Dakota was heavily favored to beat DU since they had three out of four previous games, one by a lopsided 8-2 loss on Nov. 11.
The Pioneers showed their mettle from the start. After two scoreless periods and a defensive battle between goaltenders Jordan Parise of North Dakota and Adam Berkhoel, the last 20 minutes would offer an exciting finish.
“I didn’t need to give a speech in the second intermission because it was such a close, emotional game,” said Head Coach George Gwozdecky about the team going into the third period. “We were all motivated to win.”
After being dominated for most of the period by a 10-4 Sioux shot advantage, Denver got the break it was looking for. Senior Lucas Dora made a pass to wide open senior forward Max Bull, who ripped a slap shot from the top of the offensive zone. The puck deflected off Luke Fulghum and snuck in past Parise for the first and only goal of the night.
“We had a one goal lead and control of the puck with two and a half minutes left, so I knew that we were going to win the game,” said Gwozdecky.
The next task for the Frozen Four bound Pioneers is to take on WHCA conference partner Minnesota- Duluth Bulldogs, to whom they lost twice in January. Gwozdecky feels that those games were not a proper representation of the team Minnesota will be playing now.
“We played them in the middle third of the season when we were playing poorly and had a lot of injuries. And even then the games were closely contested,” said Gwozdecky. Despite the two losses, Gwozdecky said he does not plan to change Denver strategies.
“There are no mysteries between the two teams. They know us, and we know them. They know our weaknesses and strengths and we know theirs,” said Gwozdecky.
He said that the key to doing well in the tournament is having a strong goalie. The reason that DU has come this far is due partly to strong play from goaltender Borehole.
“They say that the basketball tournament is a guards’ tournament, well the hockey tournament is a goalies tournament. All the teams in it have a strong goaltender. That’s how they got there in the first place,” said Gwozdecky.
In the shutout against North Dakota, Borehole had 33 saves and looked to be on top of his game.
“Its all about who is going to blink first, and Berkhoel doesn’t blink,” said Gwozdecky.
Between the pipes for UMD will be sophomore goalie Isaac Reichmuth, who has a .91 save percentage and 2.5 goals against average in 39 games played at UMD this year.
Along with this, UMD has Junior Lessard who is a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award given each year to the best college hockey player in the country. He has 30 goals and 51 points in 44 games played this year.
If Denver does get past UMD to advance on to the finals, the Pioneers will take on the winner of the Maine versus Boston College game.
Neither team is familiar to the Pioneers. The last game between Maine and DU was seven years ago and the Pioneers have only played
Boston College four times in the previous four seasons.
The games are going to be live on ESPN and ESPN 2.
The first game between DU and UMD will be played Thursday April 8 at 10 a.m. Denver time at the Fleet Center in Boston. The two semifinal winners will play in the NCAA Frozen Four Championship Game on Saturday April 10 at 5 p.m. Denver time on ESPN.
