North Dakota forward and 2007 Hobey Baker Memorial Award winner Ryan Duncan recorded two goals and added one assist to lead the No. 8 Fighting Sioux (7-5-1, 5-5-0 WCHA) to a 3-1 victory over the No. 3 Denver Pioneers (10-4-0, 7-3-0 WCHA) tonight in front of 6,047 fans at Magness Arena.
Tyler Bozak (Regina, Saskatchewan) recorded DU’s lone goal, while senior netminder Peter Mannino (Farmington Hills, Mich.) made 22 saves in the loss.
“Our first two periods weren’t anything to be proud of, but we played very hard and generated some good scoring chances in the third period,” Denver head coach George Gwozdecky said. “Unfortunately, what has been pretty good for us over the past couple of weeks wasn’t working for us tonight.”
The Fighting Sioux took a 2-0 lead on a pair of power-play goals. Chris VandeVelde made it a 1-0 game four minutes into the contest, while Duncan stretched the lead to two goals at the 1:04 mark of the second period.
Bozak then cut DU’s deficit in half with his team-leading eighth tally of the season at the 10:04 mark of the middle frame. Brock Trotter (Brandon, Manitoba) made a feed from behind the net to Bozak, who sent a one-timer past UND netminder Jean-Philippe Lamoureux (35 saves).
Just over a minute later, Duncan gave the Sioux a 3-1 lead and also rounded out the game’s scoring when he beat Mannino on a shorthanded breakaway at 11:14.
The Pioneers put 24 shots on Lamoureux during the final frame, but couldn’t solve the Fighting Sioux netminder.
DU outshot UND by a 36-25 margin in the game. The Fighting Sioux finished 2-of-7 on the power play, while the Pioneers were held scoreless in seven opportunities.
The Pioneers take to the road next weekend for a series against the St. Cloud State Huskies, with both Friday and Saturday night’s contests slated for 6:07 p.m. MT.
Notes: Bozak has registered a point in seven of his last eight games...DU freshmen and sophomores have tallied 37 of the team’s 40 goals...Trotter’s second-period assist snapped a personal two-game pointless streak...The redshirt sophomore leads DU with 15 points (6-9--15)...Tonight marked the 66th consecutive regular season sellout at Magness Arena.
