Dec. 8, 2001
Box Score
The University of Denver hockey team earned a split with Western Collegiate Hockey Association foe, Minnesota, defeating the Golden Gophers 4-3 in front of 6,013 fans at Magness Arena, Saturday. The Pioneers, who entered the weekend tied with Minnesota at No. 2 in the USA Today/American Hockey Magazine poll, improved to 12-2-0 (9-1-0 WCHA), while UM dropped to 12-2-3 (6-2-2 WCHA).
At the 6:55 mark of the first period, the Pioneers opened the scoring. Freshman Luke Fulghum (Colorado Springs, Colo.) put a shot on goal that UM goalie Adam Hauser stopped, but the rebound sailed out to the left faceoff circle, where sophomore Max Bull (Faribault, Minn.) gained control and beat Hauser top-shelf. Minnesota's Matt Koalska brought the Gophers back even with his goal less than two minutes later, but the Pioneers regained the one-goal advantage at 12:11 when junior Kevin Doell (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan) beat Hauser. Denver outshot UM 16-9 in the opening 20 minutes and took a 2-1 lead into the locker room at the first intermission.
Denver junior defenseman Aaron MacKenzie (Terrace Bay, Ontario) gave the Pioneers a two-goal lead at 5:07 of the second period. Hauser could not handle MacKenzie's shot from the point as the puck trickled over the goal line. With less than 10 minutes to play in the middle stanza, Minnesota cut into the Pioneer lead when Grant Potulny beat Denver netminder Adam Berkhoel (Woodbury, Minn.). In the second period, it was the Gophers who controlled most of the action, outshoting Denver 14-7.
Just 1:24 into the third period, Denver regained its two-goal advantage when senior Chris Paradise (St. Paul, Minn.) batted the puck out of mid-air and into the net. Just 1:04 later, however, UM's Troy Riddle notched a shorthanded marker to bring the Gophers back to within a goal. That was all the Pioneer defense would yield as Denver went on to earn the 4-3 victory. Berkhoel finished the night with 28 saves to improve to 6-1-0 overall and 5-0-0 in the WCHA. The Pioneers kept the nation's top power play unit scoreless, blanking Minnesota on three tries.
The Pioneers will hit the road next weekend for a two-game league series at Minnesota State, Mankato. Denver and the Mavericks will faceoff Friday (Dec. 14) at 6:35 p.m., MT, and Saturday (Dec. 15) at 6:05 p.m., MT.
