Box Score DENVER (Nov. 18) - The University of Denver hockey team defeated Michigan Tech 4-1 Saturday evening at Magness Arena. Denver earned its first home win of the season and improved to 3-7-0, 3-5-0 in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, while Michigan Tech falls to 3-9-1, 3-9-0 WCHA with the weekend split.
Denver broke the scoreless tie late in the first period when junior David Neale (Victoria, B.C.) tipped in a shot from junior Jesse Cook (Englewood, Colo.) that beat MTU goalie Brian Rogers to give Denver a 1-0 lead at 17:28.
Denver continued to press Michigan Tech's defense early in the second period and were rewarded when senior Kelly Popdynetz (Calgary, Alberta) and freshman Matt Weber (Binghamton, N.Y.) danced through the Husky defense with a give-and-go play that Weber finished off when he chipped the puck into the short side of the net over Roger's stick to extend Denver's lead to 2-0 at 3:39.
MTU scored its lone goal of the evening on an unassisted shot by Frank Werner at 13:21 to cut Denver's lead in half, 2-1. Werner beat Denver netminder Wade Dubielewicz (Invermere, B.C.) on his stick side that ended Dubielewicz's shutout streak of 138:19.
Denver responded just over a minute later when Chris Paradise (St. Paul, Minn.) one-timed a pass from freshman Connor James (Calgary, Alberta) in front of the net to give Denver a 3-1 lead at 14:30. The Pioneers held off Michigan Tech's late-game onslaught and added to their lead when freshman Lukas Dora (Lednice, Czech Republic) scored an empty net goal to give the Pioneers their final margin of victory, 4-1, at 19:06.
The Pioneers return to action next weekend when they host Boston University on Friday, November 24 and Providence College on Saturday, November 25 in non-conference action. Face-off is slated for 7:35 and 7:05 p.m. MST respectively.
