Oct. 13, 2001

Box Score

The University of Denver hockey team jumped out to a 2-0-0 start to the 2001-02 season with a 3-0 shutout victory over Northeastern. Sophomore goaltender Adam Berkhoel (Woodbury, Minn.), in his first start of the season, notched his second career shutout.

Berkhoel made timely saves in the first period to keep the Pioneers in a scoreless tie with the Huskies. After allowing two power play goals in three chances last night against Boston College, the Pioneers allowed the Huskies too many opportunities to open the scoring, giving Northeastern four power plays in the first period. Fortunately, Berkhoel was up to the task, stopping all four Northeastern shots. The biggest save of the game came early for Berkhoel during a Denver power play. Despite being down a man, Northeastern stole the puck and broke into the Pioneers' zone ahead of the Denver defense. Berkhoel made a tremendous save to hold the contest scoreless.

Just two minutes into the middle period, Denver had another great chance to break the scoreless tie as the Pioneers went on the power play. Despite good puck movement, Denver was unable to find the back of the net, due in part to three blocked shots by the Huskies. However, with their second power play of the stanza, the Pioneers broke the drought, as sophomore Matt Weber (Binghamton, N.Y.), assisted by senior Chris Paradise (St. Paul, Minn.) and sophomore Ryan Caldwell (Deloraine, Manitoba), beat NE goalie Jason Braun. Skating four-on-four with 9:47 to play in the second, junior Kevin Doell (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan), from the defensive zone, found sophomore Greg Keith (Delta, British Columbia) at the far blueline with a great breakout pass. Keith broke into the Huskies' zone all alone and beat Braun to give Denver a 2-0 lead. Senior Jesse Cook (Englewood, Colo.) was credited with the second assist. Following that goal, Denver was forced to kill back-to-back penalties. The Huskies had a great opportunity to get on the scoreboard, but again Berkhoel made a tremendous save, blocking the puck with his right shoulder.

Following Denver's sixth power play chance, Cook stole the puck from a Northeastern skater and sent it to Doell in the third period. Doell skated in on the right side, beat the defenseman and lift the puck over Braun's glove-side to give Denver a 3-0 lead. With less than 13 minutes to play, Denver freshman Greg Keith (Delta, British Columbia) and NE's Leon Hayward were whistled for coincidental roughing penalties. Keith was given an additional two-minutes for instigating. Just 40 seconds into that Husky power play, senior Erik Adams (Thunder Bay, Ontario) was called for high sticking, giving Northeastern 1:20 of a five-on-three power play. Down by three goals and with the extra two attackers, the Huskies called a timeout and pulled their goaltender to give them six attackers against three defenders for Denver. Berkhoel was phenomenal as he made several tough saves, helping the Pioneers kill off both penalties. The final 10 minutes of the game was played scoreless, but not uneventful. Both teams were called for numerous roughing penalties down the stretch. Despite all the action in the box, Berkhoel managed to keep the Huskies scoreless, earning his second career shutout.

The Pioneers (2-0-0) will return to Magness Arena Saturday (Oct. 20) for an exhibition game against the United States National Development Team. The puck drops at 7:05 p.m. Denver will open the WCHA campaign the following week (Oct. 26 and 27) with a two-game series against Alaska Anchorage at Magness Arena.