It was a weekend that started off with a major thud for the DU hockey team, but ended with a 4-2 home win over nonconference foe Bemidji on Saturday.
Denver got beat in every aspect Friday night in a 5-2 loss at Air Force, is the first time the Falcons beat the Pioneers since 1980.
“To catch them at a time when they are No. 4 in the country makes this win even more special. It validates the fact that we have come a long ways,” said Air Force Head Coach Frank Serratore.
The Falcons played aggressive hockey early and often and it paid off when freshman Derrick Burnett put the puck past DU senior goaltender Peter Mannino on a breakaway eight minutes into the first period. Air Force extended its lead when sophomore Matt Fairchild forced a turnover from Rakhshani and scored a shorthanded goal with just five seconds remaining in the period.
Things did not bode much better for the Pioneers in the second period as Josh Schaffer gave the Falcons a 3-0 lead halfway through the second period. Just a few minutes later Fairchild’s second goal of the night extended the lead to 4-0 and sent Mannino to the bench for replacement Marc Chevrie.
“That game was not Peter’s fault; his teammates left him hang out to dry. That’s really sad,” said Head Coach George Gwozdecky.
DU finally got its first goal of the game with a minute remaining in the period when senior Tom May found the back of the net courtesy of junior Patrick Mullen and freshman Kyle Ostrow.
After failing to score on a two-minute 5-on-3 advantage in the third period, Mullen cut the lead to two with a backhanded goal. Denver then pulled Chevrie to get an extra skater, but it backfired just seconds later as Fairchild completed his hat-trick.
“They (Air Force) competed their ass off. We knew they were a better team than they were last year and they are. There is not much else to say. We got beat badly and they were a far better team than we were,” said Gwozdecky.
After the game, the team called a players-only meeting to discuss not only the defeat to Air Force, but also the 7-2 thrashing they took the week before to Wisconsin.
“We really drew the line in the sand after the game last night and said if we want this season to mean something to us we really got to start buckling down,” said senior captain Andrew Thomas.
“We just knew that something needed to change and we needed to fix something’s that happened in the game last night and we addressed them as a team,” said Rakhshani.
On Saturday night Gwozdecky switched things up as Chevrie got his first career collegiate start in place of Mannino.
“Peter is our guy, if we had been playing well in front of Peter, Peter probably would have gotten the start,” said Gwozdecky.
Once again the Pioneers fell behind early as the Beavers got a breakaway goal from Tyler Scofield at 6:19 of the first period. Unlike the night before, DU quickly responded as freshman Tyler Bozak scored his 11th goal of the season on the rebound of a Rakhshani scot attempt. Then just a few minutes later sophomore Matt Glasser recorded his first goal as a Pioneer off an assist from fellow sophomore Brandon Vossberg.
Four minutes into the second period, Rakhshani scored his first goal since the World Juniors with a wrister from the slot. Bemidji State responded with a goal to cut the lead down to 3-2.
Trotter added an insurance goal in the third period and the Pioneers held onto a much needed 4-2 win.
“The urgency was certainly there and you could sense it by the way we played. I think over the course of the last two previous games not only has our performance not been there, but I think it has really affected our confidence,” said Gwozdecky.
Denver is now 5-0 all time against the Beavers and are finished with its nonconference schedule for the season.
The Pioneers now have a week off before traveling to Minnesota State for games on Feb. 1 and 2.
