March 9, 2002
Box Score
DENVER - The University of Denver hockey team advanced to the second round of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association playoffs by with a convincing 8-1 win over Michigan Tech on Saturday night (Mar. 9) at Magness Arena. The Pioneers (30-7-1, 23-6-1) completed the weekend sweep of Michigan Tech (8-28-2, 4-24-2), their seventh straight win over the Huskies and sixth of the season to advance. The 2001-02 Pioneer squad becomes only the fourth team in Denver's 52-year history to record 30 wins in a season and is four shy of the school record (34) set by the 1985-86 team.
Sophomore forward Connor James (Calgary, Alberta) opened the scoring attack for Denver with his 16th goal of the season midway through the first period on a pass from freshman Jon Foster (Suffern, N.Y.). Foster skated the puck through three Husky defensemen into the offensive zone and fed James on the left side, who controlled the pass and then chipped a shot over the glove shoulder of MTU goalie Cam Ellsworth to give Denver a 1-0 lead and extend his point streak to six games. The Pioneers added a goal late in the opening frame and held a two-goal advantage at the first intermission.
Denver continued to pour it on offensively in the second period and doubled its lead within the first five minutes of the stanza on goals by sophomore Lukas Dora (Lednice, Czech Republic) and junior Greg Barber (Kelowna, B.C.). With his helper on Dora's goal, junior defenseman Aaron MacKenzie (Terrace Bay, Ontario) extended his assist streak to three games. Senior Chris Paradise (St. Paul, Minn.) tallied Denver's first power play goal of the night late in the period, his team-leading 19th marker and career-high 36th point of the season, to give the hometown heroes a comfortable 5-0 lead after two periods of play.
Junior Matt Weber (Binghampton, N.Y.) and Neale each added a highlight-reel goal in the third period to give Denver a 7-0 lead. With the game securely in hand, the Pioneers nodded to senior netminder Andy Lemelin (Biddeford, Maine), in a nostalgic replay of the Irish classic Rudy, to finish the game in goal. The crowd-favorite capped a limited career of eight minutes and fifty-three seconds with no saves and one goal against. Each team registered a goal in the final two minutes to supply the final score of 8-1.
The final home game of the 2001-02 season was completed with the presentation of the McNaughton Cup, which is awarded to the WCHA regular season champion. Denver, one of six original WCHA members, fittingly earned the league's most coveted prize on the 50th anniversary of the conference.
The Pioneers return to action next weekend (Mar. 14-16) at the WCHA Final Five in St. Paul, Minn. Denver will play the winner of the Colorado College v. Wisconsin game on Friday night (Mar. 16). St. Cloud and Minnesota both advanced and will square off in the other semifinal tilt.
