ST. CLOUD, Minn. Garrett Roe and David Carlisle tallied a goal and an assist each as St. Cloud State defeated No. 4 Denver, 4-2, tonight before 5,942 fans at National Hockey Center. The Pioneers fall to 6-3-1 overall and 4-2-1 in the WCHA, while St. Cloud State improves to 6-4, 1-3.

 

“St. Cloud State wanted this game much more than we did,” DU head coach George Gwozdecky said. “They jumped on us in the first period and we just weren’t ready to play tonight. We’ll have to battle much harder if we want to salvage this series tomorrow night.

 

Luke Salazar (Thornton, Colo.) and Patrick Wiercioch (Maple Ridge, British Columbia) scored for the Pioneers, who were outshot (33-25) for the third consecutive game.

 

The Huskies struck first and dominated DU in the opening stanza. St. Cloud State outshot DU by a commanding 15-2 margin and Roe tallied the lone goal when he beat Marc Cheverie (29 saves) with a nifty move from the right faceoff circle at 4:46.

 

Carlisle made it 2-0 when his shot from the top of the slot trickled past Cheverie at 5:17 of the second. Salazar finally put DU on the board with a quick wrist shot off a nice feed from John Ryder (Colorado Springs, Colo.) at 11:23.

 

Michael Olson made it 3-1 at 4:40 of the third and Wiercioch gave DU life with his fifth tally at 5:59 on the power play. However, DU lost its brief momentum when SCSU’s Aaron Marvin converted a 3-on-2 at 14:45 to seal the win. Jase Weslosky got the win for the Huskies with 23 saves.

 

DU went 1-for-4 on the power play and 3-for-3 on the penalty kill.

 

The teams play game two of the series at the National Hockey Center tomorrow night. The game can be heard live locally on 560 AM and www.DenverPioneers.com.

 

Notes: DU committed a season low three penalties and tallied a power-play goal for the third consecutive game. The Pioneers are 15-for-16 on the penalty kill in their last three games. Joe Colborne (Calgary, Alberta) has 1-23 in his last two games, while Wiercioch has 1-12. Salazar leads DU with seven goals.