Photo by: Jacob Rokeach

It was the type of weekend the fifth ranked Pioneers needed to get back on track before traveling to take on No. 1-ranked Minnesota this weekend. DU defeated Niagara 2-1 in overtime on Friday and convincingly 5-2 on Saturday in their last non-conference play of the regular season.

“We took a pretty good pounding and to have an opportunity to play a different type of team with a different type of system allowed us to work on different parts of our game,” said Head Coach George Gwozdecky.

The Pioneers and Purple Eagles skated to a 0-0 tie in the first period of action on Saturday. Then in the second period, DU started to light the lamp as freshman Brandon Vossberg put in his second goal of the season to give Denver the early lead. Just two minutes later, sophomore Brock Trotter got a great pass from senior Adrian Veideman to put home his 11th goal of the season and put the Pioneers up 2-0.

Niagara got a goal from Kyle Rogers to cut the lead in half, but freshman sensation Tyler Ruegsegger found the back of the net for the 10th time this season to give DU a 3-1 lead going into the third period.

“It was nice to have some of our guys finish around the net tonight and build up a lead. I can’t remember the last time we had a two-goal cushion going into the last 20 minutes of the game,” said Gwozdecky.

The Pioneers continued their scoring in the final period just 43 seconds in, as junior Ryan Dingle beat Niagara goaltender Allen Barton for his team and WCHA-leading 18th goal of the season. Five minutes later Ruegsegger gave DU a 5-1 lead when he put in his second goal of the game and third of the weekend and Denver went on for the 5-2 victory.

“It felt good to pop a couple in there. Their goalie definitely shut the door last night. We worked on crashing the net and getting shots with screens and it paid off tonight,” said Dingle.

Friday night featured more of a struggle on offense by the home team as only two of their 54 shots found the net in a 2-1 overtime victory. Freshman Rhett Rakhshani skated behind the net and sneaked in a goal behind goaltender Barton to give Denver the early 1-0 lead. No Pioneer could find the net the rest of regulation and the game went into overtime tied at one. The freshman responded again when Ruegsegger hit the back of the net with six seconds remaining in the extra period to give DU the victory.

“I think everybody realizes that this group of freshman is pretty talented. They got a real drive and desire for the team to succeed. That is so important in any team sport,” said Gwozdecky praising his freshman.

Senior goaltender Glenn Fisher started both games and improved his record to 11-4-1 on the season, while junior Peter Mannino did not start Friday because of a groin injury.

“What a luxury when you have your number one goaltender go down to injury and then put your number one goaltender in, not many teams or coaches have that type of luxury, we are very fortunate to have two quality goaltenders,” said Gwozdecky.

The Pioneers improved their record to 17-7-2 overall over the weekend and are tied for second in the WCHA standings with Colorado College and St. Cloud State at 20 points, while Minnesota leads the way with 27 points.

“This is such a tight league. There are so many good teams and anything can happen on any night. Going into Minnesota, we know it is going to be a battle,” said Rakhshani.

After what seems to be a consistent year after year rough start to the season, the Pioneers have won seven of their last eight games.

“From the get-go it was kind of slow starting off four and four, but from there it took a little time for us to adjust to the new freshman and blend together as a team and you know it is paying off right now,” said Dingle about the season.

Denver will next be in action this weekend when they travel to take-on the Golden Gophers of Minnesota at 6 p.m. on Friday evening and 4:30 p.m. on Saturday.

“You can never not get pumped up for a game against Minnesota. They are a great team and we are looking forward to going in there and they got a great atmosphere,” said Dingle.

Freshman sensations: The seven freshman have combined for 70 of DU’s 197 points on the season. Rhett Rakhshani leads the way with 5 goals and 20 assists and Tyler Ruegsegger is close behind with 11 goals and 13 assists.

Shots afalling: Denver had no problem putting shots on goal this weekend, outshooting the Purple Eagles, 97-40 in the two-game series.

The ranked ones: The Pioneers have a 6-4-0 record against ranked teams, with the best win against now No. 6-ranked St. Cloud State, who will be their next home opponent on January 26 and 27.

Goaltending is rocking: Mannino (1.99) and Fisher (2.04) are ranked sixth and eighth respectively in goals against average in division one hockey.

The Golden Gophs: DU went 0-3-1 against Minnesota last season, with the lone tie coming at home.

Pioneers hosting: DU will host a NCAA regional this year at the Pepsi Center.