Nov. 25, 2001
The second-ranked University of Denver hockey team lost its first game of the season, falling to No. 6 New Hampshire, 5-2, in the final game of UNH's Dodge Dealers of New Hampshire Conference Classic. The loss drops Denver to 9-1-0, while the Wildcats improved to 7-2-2. Junior forward Greg Barber (Kelowna, British Columbia) and senior defenseman James Armstrong (International Falls, Minn.) were named to the all-tournament team.
"New Hampshire is a good team," said Denver head coach George Gwozdecky. "I expect we may see them again in two or three months, perhaps in the national tournament."
New Hampshire controlled the tempo throughout most of the first period and notched the first goal at the 12:05 mark, from Josh Prudden. Just two minutes later, the Wildcats saw another great scoring opportunity spoiled by sophomore goalie Adam Berkhoel (Woodbury, Minn.). With Jim Abbott all alone on the doorstep, Berkhoel went down on his back and made a tremendous save with his leg pad high in the air. That prompted Gwozdecky to burn his lone timeout to slow down the UNH momentum. New Hampshire outshot Denver 13-3 in the opening stanza and took a 1-0 lead into the locker room at the first break.
With 12:58 to play in the second period, Denver notched the equalizer on a great play by the Pioneers' grind line. With a mad scramble in front of UNH goalie Matt Carney, senior David Neale (Victoria, British Columbia) collected a rebound and slipped the puck into the net from a tough angle. Armstrong and freshman Jeff Drummond (Leduc, Alberta) picked up the assists. On the next offensive possession, the Wildcats nearly regained the lead and would have if not for the great goaltending by Berkhoel. UNH did manage to draw a penalty and went on its third extra-attacker opportunity. Berkhoel again had to make two or three good saves during the power play to keep the game tied at 1-1. At the 15:09 mark, New Hampshire did regain the lead when Tyson Teplitsky scored after the Pioneers failed to clear the zone. Once again, the Wildcats outshot the Pioneers in the period, this time by an 11 to five margin. Each team managed one goal in the middle 20 minutes, as UNH took a 2-1 lead into the second intermission.
The Wildcats extended their lead to 3-1 when Darren Haydar beat Berkhoel on a two-on-one break away. At the 7:20 mark, sophomore Lukas Dora (Lednice, Czech Republic) brought Denver back to within one goal with a nice slapshot just inside the left faceoff circle, beating Carney high to the glove side. UNH regained the two-goal advantage just 26-seconds later when Ed Caron scored on another breakaway. After Denver pulled Berkhoel in favor of an extra attacker, New Hampshire added insurance in the form of an empty net goal with 1:53 to play.
"UNH played really well and their forwards are fast and talented," said Denver captain, defenseman Bryan Vines (Oakville, Ontario). "We did not have an answer for them tonight. I'm not going to make any excuses for the way we played, not to take away anything away from New Hampshire."
The Pioneers will return to Western Collegiate Hockey Association play next Friday (Nov. 30) and Saturday (Dec. 1) when they head to Duluth, Minn., for a two-game series against the Bulldogs of Minnesota-Duluth.
