• Box Score

DENVER (Dec. 30) - The University of Denver hockey team played a solid defensive game and received stellar support between the pipes as the Pioneers defeated No. 10 Providence College by a 2-1 score in the championship game of the Wells Fargo Denver Cup Dec. 30 at Magness Arena.

It is the Pioneers' seventh Denver Cup title in nine years and first since 1998, and continues Denver's unbeaten streak at 11 games (9-0-2), the second-longest stretch in the country.

Denver (11-7-2) opened the scoring 16 minutes, 19 seconds into the game when senior forward Kelly Popadynetz (Calgary, Alberta) won a faceoff in their offensive zone and passed it to freshman defenseman Ryan Caldwell (DeLoraine, Manitoba). Caldwell fired a shot on net from the point that sophomore forward Matt Weber (Binghamton, N.Y.) deflected past Providence goaltender Nolan Schaefer.

The Pioneers successfully killed a 5-minute major penalty to sophomore defenseman Aaron MacKenzie (Terrace Bay, Ontario) that spanned the first intermission, then went up 2-0 with 6:34 to play in the second period when junior defenseman Chris Paradise (St. Paul, Minn.) chipped in a rebound of his own shot to post his 10th goal of the season.

Providence (9-5-3) ended the shutout hopes of Denver netminder Wade Dubielewicz (Invermere, British Columbia) when Mike Libby wristed a shot from the blue line under Dubielewicz' glove with exactly 9:00 to play, but the Pioneers made a staunch defensive stand at the end. With the win, Denver is now 14-3-1 in the history of the Cup.

For his efforts on the weekend - which included a goal and three assists - Popadynetz was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player. He was joined on the all-tournament team by Dubielewicz, senior defenseman Judd Stauss (East Grand Forks, Minn.) and senior forward Bjorn Engstrom (Akarp, Sweden). Providence placed two players on the team: forward Devin Rask and defenseman Matt Libby, and Ferris State forward Rob Collins rounded out the squad.

"Tonight was a good championship game, the kind that you hope it would be," said head coach George Gwozdecky. "There was a lot on the line tonight - the pride of both leagues and both teams, and possibly an NCAA Tournament berth down the road. It was obviously a very hard-fought game. It was a nailbiter at times, and I thought that our play in the third period was our best in a while. We gave them very little in the period, and the goal they got was a very simple shot that got deflected off one of our players' skates. Against a team like Providence, they're not going to give you a lot, so we had to fight to earn the win tonight."

In the consolation game, Ferris State (5-11-4) scored two third-period goals and staved off a furious Air Force rally to post a 3-2 win over the Falcons (9-8-1) and claim third-place honors.

2000 WELLS FARGO DENVER CUP ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM

Position        Name          SchoolForward     Rob Collins       Ferris StateForward     BJORN ENGSTROM    DENVERForward     Devin Rask        ProvidenceDefenseman      Matt Libby        ProvidenceDefenseman      JUDD STAUSS       DENVERGoaltender      WADE DUBIELEWICZ  DENVER