Minnesota-Duluth Sweeps No. 9 Denver

Feb. 8, 2003

Luke Stauffacher scored the game-winning goal and Rob Anderson made 33 saves as the Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs completed a two-game sweep with a 3-1 win over the No. 9 Denver Pioneers in Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) tonight at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center.

Stauffacher's goal at 16:33 of the third period gave the Bulldogs a 2-1 lead and Tim Stapleton's shorthanded, empty-net goal at 18:58 sealed the win for Minnesota-Duluth (13-11-4, 9-8-3 WCHA), which moved into a fifth-place tie with idle St. Cloud State in the WCHA. Denver falls to 17-9-4 overall and 8-8-4 in the WCHA (seventh place).

"We had a better effort tonight, especially defensively," head coach George Gwozdecky said. "Rob Anderson just played really well in net. It's disappointing, but we battled like crazy and had some great chances tonight. This sets up for a very interesting series against North Dakota next weekend."

Minnesota-Duluth started the scoring at 8:19 of the first period when Jesse Unklesbay scored his third goal of the season. Unklesbay one-timed a pass off the draw from T.J. Caig and surprised Denver senior goaltender Wade Dubielewicz (Invermere, B.C.).

Junior Connor James (Calgary, Alberta) tied the game at 1-1 for Denver at 12:48 of the first period with his team-leading 17th goal. James broke free after receiving a pass from freshman Scott Drewicki (St. Albert, Alberta) and his quick wrist shot from the left face-off circle beat a helpless Rob Anderson. Drewicki earned his first career point for Denver with the assist. James extended his goal streak to four games and also has a five-game point streak.

The game remained tied at 1-1 until Stauffacher's game-winner at 16:33 of the third period. The Pioneers had numerous scoring opportunities, but Anderson was brilliant in net for the Bulldogs. Anderson made 33 saves in his first WCHA start since Oct. 26 against Colorado College. Dubielewicz played well in net for Denver with 18 saves. Denver out-shot Minnesota-Duluth 34-21, but suffered its first WCHA road sweep since March 9-10, 2001 at Wisconsin.

The Pioneers return home to Magness Arena on Feb. 14-15 for a two-game WCHA series with North Dakota.

GAME #30 - vs. Minnesota-Duluth at Duluth, Minn. (DECC)
	                                 1-2-3--F
#9 Denver (17-9-4, 8-8-4 WCHA)	         1-0-0--1
Minnesota-Duluth (13-11-4, 9-8-3 WCHA)   1-0-2--3

SCORING SUMMARY:
FIRST PERIOD
1. UMD - Jesse Unklesbay 3 (T.J. Caig 6) 8:19;
2. DEN - Connor James 17 (Scott Drewicki 1) 12:48;
SECOND PERIOD
No Scoring
THIRD PERIOD
3. UMD - Luke Stauffacher 9 (Jon Francisco 14, Tim Hambly 1) 16:33;
4. UMD - Tim Stapleton 6 (Steve Czech 3, Rob Anderson 1) SH, ENG, 18:58.

SHOTS: Denver 9-6-19-34, Duluth 8-4-9-21; SAVES: Dubielewicz (DEN) 7-4-7-18,
Anderson (UMD) 8-6-19-33. POWER PLAY: Denver 0-4; Duluth 0-5.
Referee: Mike Schmitt. Linesmen: Kile Bergren, Rick Looker. Att.-4,425.

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