Box Score Pioneers are unbeaten in four straight
DENVER - Sophomore goaltender Wade Dubielewicz (Invermere, B.C.) made 33 saves to record his second career shutout and junior Chris Paradise (St. Paul, Minn.) scored two goals to help the University of Denver men's hockey team down No. 7 Minnesota 4-0 Friday night in a WCHA battle at Magness Arena. The shutout is the Pioneer's first since February 25, 2000 when they blanked Air Force 4-0. The win is also Denver's first WCHA shutout since October 29, 1999 when Dubielewicz recorded his first career shutout, a 7-0 drubbing of Michigan Tech.
In the victory, Dubielewicz lowered his goals against average to 2.49 for the season and has recorded 90 saves in his last three starts.
Junior defender Erik Adams (Thunder Bay, Ontario) opened the scoring for the Pioneers early in the contest when he wristed a shot from just inside the blue-line that slid under the stick of Minnesota's net-minder Adam Hauser to give Denver a 1-0 lead at 3:03. Denver continued to attack and was rewarded late in the first period on a power play when Paradise took the puck the entire length of the ice and beat a Gopher defender before making a highlight-reel move to beat Hauser and give the Pioneers a 2-0 lead at 18:57.
The Pioneers came out in the second period and attacked Minnesota's defense with continuous pursuit. Freshman Matt Weber (Binghamton, N.Y.) stole the puck from a Gopher defenseman and chipped it into the top of the net over Hauser's glove to extend Denver's lead to 3-0 at 3:02.
Denver's penalty kill was spectacular in the game, killing all nine of Minnesota's man-advantage opportunities - and extending the Gopher's power play streak to 0-for-15 - and took advantage of a short-handed scoring chance in the second period when freshman Greg Keith (Delta, B.C.) chased the puck into the offensive zone and knocked it loose when Hauser attempted to control it. He chipped it into the middle of the slot to Paradise who was trailing the play. Paradise fired the puck into the empty net to give the Pioneers their final margin of victory 4-0 at 18:48.
Both teams tightened up on defense in the third period and despite being out-shot 15-4 in the third frame, Denver held the Golden Gophers scoreless in front of Dubielewicz's 33 saves.
The Pioneers return to action on Saturday, December 2 in the second game of this two-game WCHA series against Minnesota. Face off is set for 7:05 p.m. MST.
