Box Score DENVER (Nov. 24) - Sophomore goaltender Wade Dubielewicz (Invermere, B.C.) made 42 saves and senior Bjorn Engstrom (Akarp, Sweden) scored a goal and added two assists to help the University of Denver men's hockey team down Boston University 5-2 Nov. 24 in a non-conference contest at Magness Arena.
Denver attacked early in the first period and took a 1-0 lead minutes into the contest when Engstrom chipped in a loose puck in front of the net at 1:17. The Pioneer defense held its ground by killing two consecutive power plays before giving up a goal on Boston's third man-advantage attempt to forward John Sabo at 14:43 to tie the game 1-1.
The Pioneers answered just over three minutes later with a power play goal of their own when senior Bryce Wallnutt (Colorado Springs, Colo.) knocked in a rebound from the left side of the crease to give Denver a 2-1 lead at 17:58.
Boston came out in the second stanza firing shots at the net but was unable to get the puck past Dubielewicz, who stopped all 15 shots in the period. Denver responded with offense of their own and capitalized on both scoring chances. Freshman forward Greg Keith (Delta, B.C.) accepted a pass from line mate Greg Barber (Kelowna, B.C.) and wristed a shot on net that slipped by BU goalie Sean Fields to extend Denver's lead to 3-1 at 8:19. The Pioneers added another goal late in the second period when senior Kelly Popadynetz (Calgary, Alberta) picked up a loose puck at the blue line and skated towards the goal. He juked Fields on a fake pass attempt and flipped the biscuit over Field's shoulder on the short side into the top of the net to give the Pioneers a 4-1 lead at 18:27.
The Terriers cut Denver's lead in half early in the third period when Carl Corazzini slid the puck past Dubielewicz at 4:28 to bring Boston within two goals, 4-2. But Denver held off Boston's late-game attack and iced the victory when junior Chris Paradise (St. Paul, Minn.) intercepted an errant pass at the blue line and skated to the goal unabated before beating Fields on his stick side to give the Pioneers their final margin of victory, 5-2 at 15:17.
"Goaltending was very important for us tonight," said Denver head coach George Gwozdecky. "You have to have great goaltending to beat great teams and Wade (Dubielewicz) was great for us tonight. He made some big saves in all three periods and that really fired up the rest of the team and helped our confidence out on the ice."
The Pioneers return to action tomorrow, November 25 when they host Providence College in a non-conference contest. Face-off is slated for 7:05 p.m. MST.
