No. 2 Hockey Blanks Alabama-Huntsville

Oct. 26, 2002

DENVER, Colo. - Junior Adam Berkhoel (Woodbury, Minnesota) recorded 26 saves and senior center Kevin Doell (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan) registered six points to lead the University of Denver hockey team to a 7-0 win over Alabama-Huntsville in non-conference action Saturday night at Magness Arena. Denver (5-1-0) has won three straight, while the Chargers fall to 0-4-0.

"Adam played very well tonight, making big stops especially when we were mentally lazy in front of him," said head coach George Gwozdecky. "He was really focused tonight, making big plays in big situations. As for Kevin, it was nice to see him break out of his shell. He really showed tremendous leadership on the ice tonight."

Berkhoel's third career shutout is his first since October 13, 2001, when he blanked Northeastern. This marks the third time that Denver has shutout the Chargers. The Pioneers blanked UAH in their first two meetings on January 26 and 28, 2001. Doell's six points are the most by any Pioneer since December 27, 1995, when Brent Cary registered six points against Air Force.

As they did in Friday's win, the Pioneers started the scoring early when Doell took advantage of a Denver power play as he put in a rebound off a shot from junior Connor James (Calgary, Alberta), giving the Pioneers a 1-0 lead with 14:30 left to play in the first period. Denver made it 2-0 late in the first period on a goal from senior Matt Weber (Binghamton, N.Y.). Weber beat Charger goaltender Adam MacLean for his first goal of the season glove side after a great cross-ice pass from Doell.

The Pioneers opened the second period using a one-man advantage to make the score 3-0. Sophomore Kevin Ulanski's (Madison, Wis.) one-timer from the right slot at 3:40 was set up by a pass from sophomore Jeff Drummond (Leduc, Alberta). James gave Denver a 4-0 edge at the end of the second period putting the puck in the net from the left slot after a shot by freshman Gabe Gauthier (Buena Park, Calif.) was deflected.

The third frame opened with a Pioneer goal from Drummond at the 4:23 mark. Racing out of the penalty box the sophomore created an odd-man rush and was the beneficiary of a rebound off a Doell shot, giving Denver a 5-0 lead. The Pioneers took a 6-0 lead three minutes later on a goal from James. The Calgary native's shot from the blue line was never seen by MacLean before it landed in the back of the net. Denver did not let up and made the score 7-0 just two minutes later. Weber converted his own rebound for his second goal of the night.

The Pioneers out-shot Alabama-Huntsville 37-26. In four career games against the Chargers, Denver has outscored UAH 21-2 with the only Charger goals coming in last night's 7-2 victory.

The Pioneers open WCHA play next weekend (Nov. 1-2) with a road series against Wisconsin in Madison, Wis. Denver will battle the Badgers on Friday and Saturday at 6:05 p.m. MT at the Kohl Center.


GAME #6 - vs. Alabama-Huntsville
at Denver, Colo. (Magness Arena)
	                        1	2	3	--	F
#2 Denver Pioneers (5-1-0)	2	2	3	--	7
Alabama-Huntsville (0-4-0)	0	0	0	--	0

SCORING SUMMARY:
FIRST PERIOD
1.	DEN, Kevin Doell 2 (Connor James 2, Kevin Ulanski 5) PPG, 05:30;
2.	DEN, Matt Weber 1 (Doell 4) EV, 17:20
SECOND PERIOD
1.	DEN, Ulanski 1 (Jeff Drummond  1, Doell 5) PPG, 3:40;
2.	DEN, James 4 (Gabe Gauthier 3, Ulanski 6) EV, 14:41
THIRD PERIOD
1.	DEN, Drummond 2 (Doell 6, Weber 2) EV, 4.23;
2.	DEN, James 5 (Doell 7, Drummond 2) PPG, 7:38;
3.	DEN, Weber 2 (Doell 8, Ted O'Leary 1) EV, 9:24

SHOTS: Denver 19-9-9--37, Alabama-Huntsville 11-6-9--26;
SAVES: Berkhoel (DEN) 11-6-9--26, MacLean (UAH) 17-7-6--30.
POWER PLAY: Denver 3-5, Alabama-Huntsville 0-6.
Referee: Don Adam. Assistants: Gary Pedigo, Bob Keltie

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