Nov. 9, 2002
Box Score
DENVER - Sophomore Kevin Ulanski (Madison, Wisc.) scored two goals and an assist while senior Kevin Doell (Saskatoon, Sask.) had an assist, scoring his 100th point for the No. 1 Denver Pioneers, who beat the University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs 4-2 Saturday in Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) play.
The win avenges Friday's 3-2 loss to the Bulldogs and boosts Denver's record to 8-2-0 and 3-1-0 in the WCHA.
"We finally got to their goaltender and got up on them rather than playing catch up," Pioneers coach George Gwozdecky said. "We were opportunistic when we got our chances and got that first goal, which is so important."
The first goal came from Ulanski on the power play, giving the Pioneers a 1-0 lead at 4:52 of the second period. Senior Greg Barber (Kelowna, B.C.) sent a cross-ice pass to Ulanski, who beat Bulldogs goaltender Issac Reichmuth with a wrist shot.
Ulanski got his first two-goal game of the season just over two minutes later, deflecting a corner pass from senior Jason Grahame (Denver, Colo.), who picked up his first point this season. Doell also assisted on the goal, scoring his 100th-point with Denver.
Senior Aaron MacKenzie (Terrace Bay, Ont.) increased the Pioneers lead to 3-0 at 12:37, scoring on a 5-on-3 advantage. Ulanski added an assist as did junior Connor James (Calgary, Alberta), who pushed his point-scoring streak to five games.
Sophomore Jeff Drummond (Leduc, Alberta) scored with 69 seconds left in the period, giving Denver a 4-1 lead at the end of the second. Junior Lukas Dora (Lednice, Czech Republic) and sophomore Luke Fulghum (Colorado Springs, Colo.) assisted while Drummond increased his personal-best point-scoring streak to five games, scoring eight points within that span.
Junior goaltender Adam Berkhoel, who has an overall 4-0-0 record for the Pioneers and leads the WCHA in goals-against average, stopped flurries of Bulldogs shots, especially in the second period as Denver built a three-goal lead. Berkhoel then allowed a goal on a high shot from Bulldogs senior Jon Francisco, who scored on a breakaway at 14:08 while shorthanded.
"Adam Berkhoel played extremely well, especially after we gave them some close chances," Gwozdecky said.
Bulldogs Junior Lessard scored the only goal of the third period while on a 5-on-3 power play with 12 seconds left in the game to make the score 4-2. The Pioneers travel to Michigan Tech for a two-game WCHA series Nov. 15-16.
RESULTS
GAME #10 - vs. Minnesota-Duluth
at Denver, Colo. (Magness Arena)
Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs (2-3-3, 2-2-2) 0 1 1 -- 2 #1 Denver Pioneers (8-2-0, 3-1-0) 0 4 0 -- 4
SCORING SUMMARY:
FIRST PERIOD - No Scoring -
SECOND PERIOD 1. DEN, Kevin Ulanski 3 (Greg Barber 3, Aaron MacKenzie 4) PPG, 4:52;
2. DEN, Ulanski 4 (Jason Grahame 1, Kevin Doell 11) 7:16;
3. DEN, MacKenzie 4 (Ulanski 7, Connor James 5) PPG, 12:37
4. UMD, Jon Francisco 5 (unassisted) SH, 14:08
5. DEN, Jeff Drummond 4 (Lukas Dora 3, Luke Fulghum 3) 18:51
THIRD PERIOD 6. UMD, Junior Lessard 4 (Beau Geisler 5) 18:46
SHOTS: Denver 8-11-13--32, Minnesota-Duluth 7-12-7--26; SAVES: Issac Reichmuth (UMD) 8-5-x-13, Rob Anderson (UMD) x-2-13--15; Adam Berkhoel (DEN) 7-11-6--24. POWER PLAY: Minnesota-Duluth 1-7, Denver 2-6. Referee: Derek Shepherd. Assistants: Greg Rockenback, Scott Staudte.
