Oct. 23, 2004
Box Score
Gabe Gauthier (Buena Park, Calif.) scored two shorthanded goals in the second period to lead the 13th-ranked University of Denver Pioneers to a 5-2 win tonight over St. Cloud State in Western Collegiate Hockey Association action before 6,022 fans at Magness Arena. Geoff Paukovich (Englewood, Colo), Matt Carle (Anchorage, Alaska) and Jon Foster (Suffern, N.Y.) added goals for the Pioneers, who improved their overall record to 2-2 and 1-0 in the WCHA, while St. Cloud State drops to 2-2-1, 0-1-0.
"I liked the fact that we got the win," head coach George Gwozdecky said. "We had great energy and we did a great job in killing the penalties. We also had a lot of great chances that we didn't capitalize on, but that is just something that we can improve on. The student section also gave us a huge lift tonight with all of their support."
The Pioneers capitalized on three shorthanded goals, but went 0-for-10 on the power play and failed to convert three 5-on-3 opportunities. However, Denver killed all 11 St. Cloud State power-play opportunities and wore down its opponent with a relentless effort in the final stanza.
Gauthier scored a shorthanded breakaway goal for Denver's first goal off a beautiful feed from Jeff Drummond (Leduc, Alberta). St. Cloud State's Peter Szabo answered for St. Cloud State when he converted a turnover by Pioneer goaltender Glenn Fisher (17 saves). Paukovich's second goal of the season gave DU a 2-1 lead and Gauthier's second goal of the night less than three minutes late made it 3-1. After video replay wiped out the Huskies' second goal, Nate Raduns' goal counted and cut the lead to 3-2 at 18:36 of the second.
The Pioneers stopped St. Cloud State on four power-plays in the third and Carle's empty-net goal iced the game at 19:13. Foster tallied his fifth goal of the season seven seconds later to continue his four-game goal streak.
St. Cloud State goaltender Tim Boron was the tough-luck loser after stopping 37 shots. The teams return to the ice for game two of the series tomorrow night at 7:07 p.m. MT. Denver will raise its six NCAA National Championship banners in a ceremony prior to the game.
