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In the renowned battle for the Gold Pan, the Pioneer hockey team was unable to top in-state rival Colorado College over the weekend, recording a loss Friday and an overtime tie on Saturday and surrendering the trophy for the first time in three seasons.
On Friday, the Pioneers fell 2-0 to the No. 10 Tigers in Magness Arena, followed by Saturday’s hard-fought 2-2 overtime tie in Colorado Springs, which snapped Denver’s five-game win streak. After the weekend, the Pioneers dropped to No. 14 in national rankings and move to 15-9-4, 10-6-4 WCHA. CC is now 15-9-2, 12-7-1 WCHA.
Prior to this weekend, Denver stood at 3rd in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association and CC was tied for 4th. Currently, the positions have reversed and the Pioneers stand in 4th behind CC.
This season, the Pioneers went 1-2-1 against the Tigers, posting a 5-4 home victory on Nov. 12 but losing 4-3 in overtime to the Tigers on the road Dec. 2.
On Friday, then-No. 13 Denver hosted Colorado College in Magness Arena with a record crowd of 6,207, but was unable to capitalize on the energy of the crowd and suffered a 2-0 shutout.
Freshman goaltender Sam Brittain recorded 33 saves in his second game since returning from a 25-game injury absence. Brittain, who injured his ACL late last season, underwent surgery in June.
However, the Tigers outshot the Pioneers 35-29, as Denver struggled in the first period to put shots on target and tallied only four to the Tigers’ 15 shots on goal.
“Our first period was about as poor a period as we’ve played in a long time,” said head coach George Gwozdecky. “Sometimes in a rivalry like this you try to do too much, do things you normally wouldn’t do, and as good as CC is we made things even more difficult on ourselves with how we played. But I thought Sam Brittain was terrific in net for us tonight.”
CC’s Jaden Schwartz scored at the 11:48 mark of the first frame. At that point, the Tigers had an 8-1 shot on goal advantage. The Pioneers retaliated in the second period with a 17-12 shot advantage but were unable to score. David Civitarese’s empty-netter with 50 seconds left in the game sealed the victory for CC.
“Unfortunately, that first 20 minutes determined the outcome of the game for us,” said Gwozdecky. “Our offense didn’t generate enough and we weren’t able to penetrate through. It put us in a position where our backs were against the wall.”
The contest was extremely physical, with at least one skirmish breaking out each period. The most severe fight occurred at the 3:32 mark of the first period, when Denver captain Dustin Jackson and CC’s Aaron Harstad left the game after receiving game disqualification penalties for fighting. Both players sat out Saturday’s contest as a result.
On Saturday, the Pioneers traveled to Colorado Springs for the second game of the series. Denver came out strong, establishing a 2-0 lead in the first period.
Senior Nate Dewhurst and junior co-captain Drew Shore lit the lamp for the Pioneers, while freshman Juho Olkinuora recorded 33 saves in the tie. Freshmen Daniel Doremus and Joey LaLeggia, junior Shawn Ostrow and sophomore Jason Zucker recorded assists.
However, the team struggled with penalties in the second frame, including a five-minute major and a game misconduct penalty for contact to the head assessed on freshman forward Larkin Jacobson.
The Tigers scored twice in the second period to even the score, and neither team was able to record any more points throughout the game. Schwartz and Jeff Collett recorded goals for the Tigers.
“What I saw tonight was who we are,” said Gwozdecky. “I thought we had a great start, obviously with a 2-0 lead. We allowed them to get back in the game because of bad penalties. As disappointed as I am not to get the win, I am probably very pleased with how we responded to a tough venue, especially with a disappointing start on Friday.”
In the latest PairWise rankings, Denver sits in 17th, just out of reach of the NCAA tournament. The Pioneers host WCHA-leading and No. 1/2 Minnesota Friday and Saturday at 8:07 p.m. and 7:07 p.m., respectively.
“We’ve got to win two games; we’ve got to get two points,” said Gwozdecky. “With only eight games left in the regular season, every point is important for a good place in the playoffs.”
