Box Score DENVER (Nov. 11) - The University of Denver hockey team dropped game two of a two-game series at Minnesota State University, Mankato. The Pioneers fell, 4-2, Saturday night in Mankato, Minn.
"I thought it was a good game," said Denver head coach George Gwozdecky. "We got the split which is what we wanted. We put ourselves in position to sweep, but a split on the road in the WCHA is good"
After earning a 5-4 victory last night (Friday, Oct. 10) against the Mavericks, Denver entered Saturday's contest with an opportunity to earn a road sweep in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association game. However, Mankato had other thoughts as the Mavericks looked to hold off the Pioneers. With that in mind, MSU-Mankato struck first. Playing shorthand with Denver on a power play, T.J. Guidarelli and Cole Bassett jumped out on a 2-on-1 break-away with just freshman Connor James (Calgary, Alberta) back to help his goaltender, freshman Adam Berkhoel (Woodbury, Minn.). James, a forward, could not break up the pass as Guidarelli found Bassett, who tallied the shorthand goal with 4:29 remaining in the first period.
"On the power play, it is one thing if you do not score," said Gwozdecky. "But if you give up a goal while on the power play, that's another. We got it back later, but we gave them a really easy one."
The Pioneers responded in the second period with a shorthanded tally of their own. Senior Kelly Popadynetz (Calgary, Alberta) broke in on a 2-on-1 with junior David Neale (Victoria, British Columbia) trailing the play. Popadynetz snapped a shot that was stopped, but not controlled, by Maverick goaltender Eric Pateman. Neale Followed with a shot that was also stopped but not controlled by Pateman. With Pateman down and the puck in the crease, Popadynetz knocked it in to tie the game, 1-1. MSU scored the next two goals of the period, however, to give the Mavericks a commanding 3-1 lead going into the second intermission.
In the final period, Mankato increased its lead at the 14:48 mark as defenseman Ben Christopherson let a slap shot go from inside the face off circle to the right of Berkhoel. That shot slipped between Berkhoel's legs, giving the Mavericks a 4-1 advantage. With just under three minutes to play, junior Chris Paradise (St. Paul, Minn.) found a rebound in front of Pateman and buried the puck in the back of the net to cut the Mankato lead to 4-2. Freshman Ryan Caldwell (DeLoraine, Manitoba) and Popadynetz each picked up an assist on the goal.
Denver forced Maverick goalie Eric Pateman to work extremely hard. Pateman, who was seeing his first action since suffering an injury in the Mavericks' second game of the season, made 39 saves as Denver peppered the junior with 41 shots on goal.
"I thought Pateman played extremely well, " said Gwozdecky. "We had a lot of good opportunities and he stepped up and made some big saves.
"We tried to get traffic in front of Pateman so he did not see the puck as well." continued Gwozdecky. "In a situation like that, for the most part, you have to get traffic in front of the goalie."
Denver (2-6-0, 2-4-0 WCHA) will return home for six consecutive games at Magness Arena. The Pioneers will host WCHA foe Michigan Tech next weekend (October 17-18). Friday, the two teams will face off in a 7:35 p.m. game before closing the weekend series Saturday in a 7:05 p.m. contest.
