Jackson, Bozak Push DU Past UMD, 6-3

DENVER Freshman Dustin Jackson (Omaha, Neb.) recorded career-highs of two goals and three points and Tyler Bozak (Regina, Saskatchewan) scored twice to propel the #8 Denver Pioneers (23-13-1) to a 6-3 win over the #18 Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs (13-16-6) in the opening game of their first-round WCHA playoff series tonight in front of 4,693 fans at Magness Arena.

“I thought we played well and were finally able to take advantage of some of our opportunities to score,” Denver head coach George Gwozdecky said. “Home ice is a big advantage, because when you score first it really gets the energy and enthusiasm in the building going.”

Jackson scored two goals within the first five minutes of the game to give the Pioneers a lead they would not relinquish. The freshman winger deposited a Brandon Vossberg (St. Paul, Minn.) feed over the glove of UMD netminder Alex Stalock (22 saves) at 2:15 before tipping home a Tom May (Eagan, Minn.) point shot at 4:58 with DU on the power play.

Andrew Carroll put the Bulldogs on the board at 8:23 with a goalmouth tally against DU netminder Peter Mannino (Farmington Hills, Mich.), but Matt Glasser (Calgary, Alberta) responded for the Pioneers 1:06 later after knocking home a feed from Jackson on a 2-on-1 rush.

The teams traded another pair of goals before the period ended, with Bozak striking for DU on the power play at 13:39 and Mike Curry beating Mannino (24 saves) at 14:24.

Bozak extended the DU lead to 5-2 only 23 seconds into the final period on his second tally of the game, tipping a J.P. Testwuide (Vail, Colo.) shot from the point past Stalock.

A power-play goal by Josh Meyers at 5:55 brought the Bulldogs back within two goals, but Cody Brookwell (Calgary, Alberta) notched his first marker as a Pioneer after leaving the penalty box, scooping up the puck and beating Stalock with a high backhand attempt on a breakaway at 7:50 to round out the scoring.

The Pioneers held a 28-27 edge in shots and went 2-for-7 on the power play while holding UMD to one goal in five opportunities.

The teams will resume the best two-out-of-three series tomorrow night with puck drop scheduled for 7:07 p.m. at Magness Arena.

Notes: Denver is tied for sixth in the latest PairWise Rankings...The Pioneers are hosting the first round of the WCHA Playoffs for the fifth consecutive season...Denver is seeking its first trip to the WCHA Final Five since 2005...The Pioneers snapped a season-high three-game losing streak with the victory...DU is 63-53-6 all-time in the WCHA Playoffs, including a 47-18-5 mark at home...It was announced today that nine University of Denver players were named to the Men’s 2007-08 All-WCHA Academic Team: Zach Blom (Englewood, Colo.), Brian Gifford (Moorhead, Minn.), Glasser, Mannino, Rhett Rakhshani (Huntington Beach, Calif.) Tyler Ruegsegger (Lakewood, Colo.), Testwuide, Andrew Thomas (Bow, N.H.), and Vossberg.

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