HOUGHTON, Mich. Freshman Joe Colborne (Calgary, Alberta) continued his strong play with three points on a goal and two assists to lead the No. 7/8 Denver Pioneers (11-5-1, 7-4-1 WCHA) to a 6-1 win tonight and two-game sweep of Michigan Tech (2-13-1, 1-10-1).

 

After starting his collegiate career with five points in his first 12 games, the red-hot Colborne has tallied 10 points during his career-best five-game point streak as DU increased its winning streak to a season-high five games, outscoring its opponents 26-3 during that span.

 

Also scoring for the Pioneers were Tyler Ruegsegger (Lakewood, Colo.), Patrick Wiercioch (Maple Grove, British Columbia), Jesse Martin (Edmonton, Alberta), Matt Glasser (Edmonton, Alberta) and Luke Salazar (Thornton, Colo.). Marc Cheverie (Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia) stopped 19 shots for his fifth consecutive win and Anthony Maiani (Shelby Township, Mich.) and Tyler Bozak (Regina, Saskatchewan) increased their point streaks to six games.

 

“We scored three important goals in the first period and Cheverie gave us another strong performance,” DU head coach George Gwozdecky said. “We didn’t do a good job on the power play, but finished the game with a very smart third period.

 

Colborne had a hand in all three first-period goals as DU jumped to a 3-0 lead and never looked back. Colborne scored his first career shorthanded goal at 8:32 and setup tallies by Ruegsegger and Wiercioch (power play).

 

“Colborne played his best game of his young career tonight and really set the tone for us in the first period,” Gwozdecky added.

 

Martin buried a loose puck in the high slot just 18 seconds into the second period for a commanding 4-0 DU lead. Tech finally solved Cheverie, who stopped 44 of 45 shots in the two-game sweep, with its first goal of the series less than two minutes later.

 

The third period started like every other period in the series with a DU goal. Glasser backhanded a shot past Corson Cramer (10 saves) at 2:23 and Salazar capped the scoring at 18:24. Lars Paulgaard (Vettre, Norway) relieved Cheverie at 14:02 of the third period and stopped two shots.

 

DU went 1-for-6 on the power play and 6-for-6 on the penalty kill.

 

The Pioneers complete the first half of the season at Minnesota State on Dec. 12-13.

 

Notes: DU is 9-0 when scoring four or more goals. Nine different Pioneers scored in Denver’s first road sweep of the season. The Pioneers are 22-for-22 on the penalty kill during their five-game winning streak.