DENVER Rhett Rakhshani (Huntington Beach, Calif.) and Brock Trotter (Brandon, Manitoba) each notched a goal and one assist and Marc Cheverie (Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia) recorded 26 saves in his first collegiate start as the No. 4 Denver Pioneers (18-6-0) topped the Bemidji State Beavers (11-11-2) by a 4-2 count Saturday night before 6,035 fans at Magness Arena.
The Pioneers snapped a two-game skid with the victory and improved their home record to 11-3-0 in the process.
“There’s no question that our willingness to compete was much better than last night.” Denver head coach George Gwozdecky said. “Marc really earned that one by making a couple of terrific saves at very important times of the game.”
Tyler Scofield gave Bemidji State an early lead after skating in all alone and tucking a backhand between Cheverie’s legs at 6:19, but the Pioneers answered with two goals before the end of the first period.
Tyler Bozak (Regina, Saskatchewan) notched his 11th goal of the season after depositing the rebound of a Rakhshani attempt past Bemidji netminder Orlando Alamano (28 saves) at 9:32. Matt Glasser (Calgary, Alberta) then recorded his first goal as a Pioneer when he buried a Brandon Vossberg (St. Paul, Minn.) feed from just outside the crease at 14:00.
Rakhshani extended DU’s lead to 3-1 with a wrister from the slot area at 3:57 of the second period with the Pioneers on the power play, but the Beavers got one back before the end of the period on a Blaine Jarvis tally at 11:22.
Trotter rounded out the scoring with a shorthanded tally in the third period. After finding himself alone on a breakaway, Trotter faked to his backhand before putting a forehand attempt past Alamano at 7:38.
The Beavers pulled Alamano with two minutes remaining for an extra skater, but Cheverie and the Pioneers shut the door down the stretch.
DU outshot Bemidji by a 32-28 margin. The Pioneers went 1-for-8 on the power play, while the Beavers finished 1-for-6.
Notes: DU is now 5-0 all-time against Bemidji State in a series that started in 1967...Trotter’s multi-point effort was his ninth of the season, while Rakhshani had his fifth game this season with more than one point...DU has gone 12-for-13 on the penalty kill in its last three games.
