GRAND FORKS, N.D. (Dec. 11) -- Stephen Wagner should play in pain more often.

The senior netminder, who missed the first game of the series with North Dakota due to a knee strain, stopped 41 shots as the Pioneers trounced the top-ranked Fighting Sioux 7-2 in Grand Forks on Saturday. The win was the first for the Pioneers (7-11-0 overall, 5-9-0 WCHA) at Ralph Engelstad Arena since 1995 and was the largest margin of defeat at home for North Dakota (12-2-1 overall, 9-2-1 WCHA) in nearly seven years.

UND scored the game's first goal when Wes Dorey tipped a Bryan Lundbohm centering attempt past Wagner at 5:18 of the opening frame. The Pioneers answered on the power play at 8:09 when Kelly Popadynetz captured a Matt Pettinger rebound and put it past Sioux goaltender Andy Kollar and took the lead when Joe Ritson crashed the net and buried a feed from Jon Newman at 9:35.

The Pioneers assumed a two-goal edge in the second stanza when Mark Rycroft accepted a breakaway feed from Popadynetz and undressed Kollar with a backhand. UND halved the Denver lead when, with Matt Pettinger in the penalty box serving a five-minute major, Travis Roche scored on a blast from the point at 8:36. The Pioneers, however, allowed just the one goal during the second period despite being outshot 16-5.

"(Wagner) played great," said Pioneers coach George Gwozdecky. "We needed him to be solid, especially in the second period."

The Pioneer offensive attack was sharp in the final 20 minutes. Ritson scored his second marker of the night on the power play at 4:59 and Popadynetz nothced his second of the game 46 seconds later. Kevin Doell added an insurance goal at 16:23 on an assist from Popadynetz, who had four points on the night, and Ritson earned his first career hat trick with an empty-net tally at 18:50.

Wagner's 41 saves marked the fifth time in his career that he has stopped 40 or more shots in a game. Kollar made 17 saves for UND.

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