Jan. 21, 2006
Box Score
MADISON, Wis. - Sophomore Ryan Dingle (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) scored two goals and sophomore Peter Mannino (Farmington Hills, Mich.) stopped 25 shots as the back-to-back NCAA National Champion Denver Pioneers completed a two-game sweep of No. 1 Wisconsin with a 4-2 win tonight in WCHA action before 15,237 fans at the Kohl Center.
Geoff Paukovich (Englewood, Colo.) tallied his second consecutive game-winning goal and Hobey Baker Award candidate Matt Carle (Anchorage, Alaska) added three assists for DU, who scored three power-play goals in the win. The sweep was the second of the season on the road for the Pioneers, who improved to 14-10-2 overall and 11-5-2 in the WCHA. Wisconsin falls to 18-4-2, 13-3-2. DU is tied for second in the WCHA with Minnesota at 24 points. The Pioneers also upped their mark at Kohl Center to 9-1-2.
"We had a very good weekend," head coach George Gwozdecky said. "Our goaltending was outstanding and it was nice to have Ryan Dingle back in the lineup. The game started the way Wisconsin wanted, but we persevered with our great character."
Wisconsin scored the game's first goal, but DU stormed back with three consecutive goals. The Pioneers also welcomed Dingle back into the lineup after the sophomore was suspended for last night's game after receiving a game disqualification penalty for checking from behind against St. Cloud State on Jan. 14. Dingle ended a seven-game scoreless streak with his fifth two-goal game of the season to help DU to its third consecutive win. Dingle's third period goal at 15:46 iced the win for DU after Wisconsin cut the lead to 3-2 on Robbie Earl's second goal of the game.
Earl chipped in a rebound off a shot from Adam Burish just 52 seconds into the contest to stake Wisconsin to a quick 1-0 lead. Mannino made a sprawling save off the Burish shot, but the rebound was left for Earl to bury on the back door.
Gabe Gauthier (Buena Park, Calif.) answered for DU at 7:33 with a quick wrister on the power play and Dingle's first goal in eight games gave DU a 2-1 lead at 12:18. Dingle walked around Jeff Likens and roofed a wrist shot high to the stick side of Connelly from the top of the left faceoff circle. Mannino stopped 11 of 12 shots in the period, while Shane Connelly stopped eight of 10.
Wisconsin burned off a DU 5-on-3 advantage for the first 55 seconds of the second period, but Paukovich slid in his second game-winner of the series at 15:09 on the power play. Like last night, Paukovich received a great centering pass from J.D. Corbin (Littleton, Colo.) in the low slot and scored. DU dominated the period by outshooting Wisconsin 10-5.
Earl made it a one-goal game at 13:31 of the third period on a one-timer from Joe Pavelski. DU was outshot by Wisconsin, 27-23, but converted 3-of-7 power-play opportunities. Wisconsin went 1-for-6 with the man advantage. Connelly suffered his second consecutive loss with 19 saves. Chris Butler (St. Louis, Mo.) added two assists for DU.
DU stays on the road for a two-game WCHA series at Alaska Anchorage on Jan. 27-28. Both games can be heard on KCKK AM 1600 and DenverPioneers.com.
