Nov. 11, 2005

Final Stats

MANKATO, Minn. - Sophomore Ryan Dingle's (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) power-play goal at 18:07 of the third period helped the No. 7 Denver Pioneers escape with a 3-3 overtime tie tonight against Minnesota State before 3,468 fans at Midwest Wireless Civic Center. Glenn Fisher (Edmonton, Alberta) turned in a solid performance in net with 30 saves, and Gabe Gauthier (Buena Park, Calif.) and Matt Carle also scored goals for DU. Rob Rankin scored one goal and added one assist to lead Minnesota State, while freshman Dan Tormey added a career-high 33 saves. With the tie, DU's record goes to 5-3-1 overall and 3-1-1 in the WCHA. Minnesota State stands at 1-6-2, 1-4-2.

"Our guys battled really hard for the entire 60 minutes tonight," head coach George Gwozdecky said. "We got the big goal from Ryan (Dingle) and had a chance to win the game in overtime. This was a good sign for us on the road."

After a Rankin goal at 2:59 of the final period, Dingle converted a Maverick turnover in the slot on the power-play to tie the game at 3-3. DU killed off a Minnesota State power-play in the extra session and skated with the man-advantage for 58 seconds but did not score on three attempts.

The teams skated to a 1-1 tie after the first period, despite Minnesota State outshooting the Pioneers 13-7. Christian Toll's blast from just inside the blueline at 10:52 gave Minnesota State a 1-0 lead before Gauthier tied it at 18:17 on the power play. Gauthier walked around several Minnesota State defenders in the high slot before burying a nifty wrist shot for his fourth goal of the season. Despite allowing the point-blank goal by Toll, Fisher was solid in net with 12 saves in the period.

David Backes gave Minnesota a 2-1 lead at 8:22 of the second period when he drove the net and flicked in a centering pass from Brock Becker in the low slot. Carle tied it with a power-play goal at 10:40 when his quick wrist shot beat Tormey high to the stick side. Adrian Veideman (Sicamous, British Columbia) and Paul Stastny (St. Louis, Mo.) earned their second assists of the night on DU's second power-play goal of the night. The Pioneers outshot Minnesota State, 10-7, in the period and launched nine shots on four power-play opportunities.

DU outshot Minnesota State, 36-33, in the game and converted 3-of-10 power-play chances. Minnesota State went 0-for-8 on the power play.

The Pioneers and Mavericks play game two of the series tomorrow night at 6:07 p.m. MT.