University of Denver
Notre Dame
DU Opens With 5-2 Win Over Notre Dame
10/11/2008 12:00:00 AM | Ice Hockey
The No. 6 Denver Pioneers kicked off their 60th season of varsity hockey tonight with a 5-2 win over the No. 3/4 Notre Dame Fighting Irish before 6,066 fans at Magness Arena in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game.
Luke Salazar (
“It was an interesting game, because I thought they really carried the play and gave us all kinds of problems in the first period,”
The teams headed into the first intermission tied 1-1. Billy Maday beat DU netminder Marc Cheverie (Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia) at 3:30 of the opening frame, but Ruegsegger notched a power-play tally at 13:57 to even the contest.
“We just wanted to come out and work hard. We worked on some things in practice, getting some rebounds and things like that,” said Ruegsegger. “It was a tough start to the game, so I think to get that first goal on the board was important to us.”
Both Cheverie and Notre Dame netminder Jordan Pearce stood tall during a scoreless second period. Pearce totaled 11 stops in the frame, while Cheverie had seven - including a spectacular sliding stop on Kevin Deeth with 1:50 left in the period.
The Pioneers scored four straight goals to open the third period.
Salazar gave DU a 2-1 lead at 4:35 on his first collegiate goal. The freshman worked a give-and-go with senior defenseman Patrick Mullen (
Salazar notched his second marker of the game at 7:15 to extend the Pioneers’ lead to two goals. After a Jesse Martin (
Wiercioch and Maiani added goals later in the third period, tallying at 8:39 and 12:53, respectively, while Notre Dame’s Justin White rounded out the scoring at 19:07.
Cheverie finished with 23 stops for DU, while Pearce turned aside 26 shots for Notre Dame.
Tonight’s game was the first of DU’s six-game homestand to start the season. Next weekend, the Pioneers will host the Wisconsin Badgers for a pair of contests on Oct. 17-18.
Notes: During the first intermission, the
