DENVER - The No. 5 Colorado College Tigers (25-9-1, 20-6-1 WCHA) received a pair of third-period goals from junior forward Chad Rau only 12 seconds apart en route to a 5-2 victory over the No. 7 Denver Pioneers (22-12-1, 16-10-1 WCHA) tonight in front of 6,141 fans at Magness Arena. With the victory, the Tigers retained possession of the Gold Pan Trophy for the second consecutive year and clinched the MacNaughton Cup.
Kyle Ostrow (Calgary, Alberta) and Jesse Martin (Edmonton, Alberta) each scored for DU, which received 30 saves from senior netminder Peter Mannino (Farmington Hills, Mich.)
The Pioneers remain in third place in the WCHA standings and will host either Michigan Tech or Minnesota Duluth next weekend in the first round of the WCHA playoffs, depending on the results of tomorrow night’s games.
“I have to give Colorado College a lot of credit because they had a lot to play for, took the lead and never relinquished it,” Denver head coach George Gwozdecky said. “We had some gorgeous chances at times, but I know we can play better.”
The Tigers jumped out to a 2-0 lead with an early goal in each of the first two periods. Scott Thauwald scored 2:17 into the game, while Jack Hillen’s shot from the point got past a screened Mannino 20 seconds into the second period.
Ostrow cut CC’s lead in half with a goal at the 6:10 mark of the second period. The freshman winger deposited the rebound of an Andrew Thomas (Bow, N.H.) shot past Colorado College netminder Richard Bachman (28 saves) to make it a 2-1 contest. However, Jimmy Kilpatrick reestablished the Tigers’ two-goal lead with a tally from the goalmouth at 16:51.
The Pioneers again made it a one-goal game 1:01 into the third period when Martin beat Bachman high to the glove side from the right faceoff circle, but Rau rounded out the scoring with goals at 5:25 and 5:37 to give CC the win.
CC outshot DU by a 35-30 margin and went 1-for-3 on the power play while holding the Pioneers scoreless in four chances.
The teams finish the home-and-home series tomorrow night in Colorado Springs with puck drop set for 7:07 p.m.
Notes: Denver is sixth in the latest PairWise Rankings...DU sophomore Tyler Ruegsegger (Lakewood, Colo.) returned to the lineup after missing the previous eight games with an abdominal injury...The Pioneers are 12-7-1 against ranked opponents and 5-8 against teams ranked in the top five of the WCHA standings.
