Denver University scored two quick goals in the first period and then rode goalie Marc Cheverie to a 2-0 shutout victory over the University of North Dakota.<\/p>\n
It was an especially satisfying win, given that no current Pioneers player had ever won before at Ralph Engelstad Arena.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153You get more prepared for some games than you do for others,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Cheverie said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I probably shouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t say that, but when you play North Dakota, play Minnesota and play Wisconsin, you get up a little bit more. You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got to be at your best or you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to lose.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Sophomore forward Joe Colborne\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s tally 1:23 into the opening stanza was all the Pioneers needed as Cheverie blanked the Fighting Sioux even-strength, shorthanded, 5-on-4, 5-on-3 and 6-on-4. And when UND finally got the puck past the DU netminder, it didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t count.<\/p>\n
Cheverie made 33 saves and held the Sioux 0-9 on the power play to earn his sixth shutout of the season and his second in three games against UND.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been giving us that kind of goaltending all year long and really, for the most part, since he became our number-one guy over a year and a half ago,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Denver coach George Gwozdecky. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Tonight, I thought Marc played very well. There were times when the puck bounced right for us in our zone and then it bounced against us in the other zone.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Sioux coach Dave Hakstol started freshman goalie Aaron Dell for just the fourth time this season. The move backfired when Dell gave up two goals on Denver\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s first five shots. He was replaced by sophomore Brad Eidsness at the start of the second period.<\/p>\n
The Pioneers got exactly the type of start they wanted with two goals in the opening 3:18, taking the crowd of 11,728 out of the game early.<\/p>\n
Dell made a pad save on Antony Maiani on the doorstop, only to have the rebound go to Colborne in the slot. He lifted a backhander over Dell to put Denver up 1-0 just 1:23 in.<\/p>\n
Less than two minutes later, Denver struck again when Tyler Ruegsegger took advantage of a turnover in the UND zone, used a defenseman as a screen and fired a wrist shot from the right circle that beat Dell. The unassisted goal gave the Pioneers a 2-0 cushion they never relinquished, thanks to Cheverie\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s stellar performance.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I got the puck, put it on net and it happened to go in,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Ruegesseger said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153So it was simple, but sometimes you need those simple goals to be successful.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The second goal was not a good goal,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Hakstol said of Dell\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s performance. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153He wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t as sharp as he is when he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 100 percent on.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Ruegsegger and Colborne had a big night for us, got us on the board early, and kept the crowd quiet for at least a little while,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Gwozdecky said.<\/p>\n
Eidsness didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t see much action when replaced Dell to start the second period, as the Sioux outshot the Pioneers 15-2. With three UND power plays in the period, including 1:37 with a two-man advantage, Cheverie came through to keep the Sioux off the scoreboard.<\/p>\n
At the 2:33 mark of the third period, UND appeared to make it a one-goal game when freshman forward Carter Rowney fired in a cross-ice pass from defenseman Jake Marto. But the goal was immediately waived off because Sioux forward Corban Knight was called for interfering with a Denver defenseman.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I really didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t see anything,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Gwozdecky said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I heard up in the press box after the game that it was a very good call. It was definitely a cross-check for interference on our player.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I saw a great play by us,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Hakstol said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153There was a little bit of contact out front, but I thought their defenseman was diving out front to break up the passing lane. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all I saw. It was a judgment call on the ref\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s part.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Instead of cutting the Pioneers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 lead in half, getting the home crowd back into the game and gaining momentum with plenty of time remaining, UND had to kill a penalty. Although the Sioux have had more than their share of disallowed goals this season, Hakstol credited the players with not getting frustrated.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153You have two choices: If you get frustrated, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to beat yourself,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We stuck with it. It didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t pay off, but we stuck with it.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Cheverie remained a wall through the third period. UND pulled Eidsness for the extra attacker with 2:21 left in the game. When defenseman Patrick Wiercoich was called for high-sticking with 1:40 left, the Denver goalie rose to the occasion and turned back the 6-on-4 power play.<\/p>\n
UND is in a scoring drought, having notched four goals in its last four games. The Sioux power play, earlier one of the nation\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s best, has now gone 2-36.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It is kind of getting frustrating,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said senior and assistant captain Chris VandeVelde. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t grip our sticks. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been playing well. We just have to play a complete game. We had four or five bad minutes there in the first where it came back to bite us in the butt.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Tonight, we spotted a real good team two goals,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Hakstol said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not a way to start a hockey game against a good team. We weren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t able to finish on our plays offensively.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m happy with our energy we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re playing with,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he added. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We sure as heck are working hard. We have to keep pushing hard for good things to happen.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Denver improves to 15-6-4 overall and 11-4-4 in the WCHA. UND is now 13-9-5 overall and 8-8-3 in conference play. The puck drops at 7:07 p.m. Saturday at Engelstad Arena for the second game of the series.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Denver University scored two quick goals in the first period and then rode goalie Marc Cheverie to a 2-0 shutout victory over the University of North Dakota. It was an especially satisfying win, given that no current Pioneers player had ever won before at Ralph Engelstad Arena. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153You get more prepared for some games than […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22374,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/recaps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10134"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/recaps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/recaps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/recaps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/recaps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10134"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/recaps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10134\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/recaps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22374"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/recaps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/recaps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/recaps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10134"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/recaps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=10134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}