DENVER Freshman Luke Salazar (Thornton, Colo.) scored the game-winning goal with only 47.4 seconds remaining in the third period to propel the No. 5 Denver Pioneers (22-10-5) to a 4-3 win and a WCHA first round series sweep over the Alaska Anchorage Seawolves (14-17-5) tonight at Magness Arena.
With the game tied late, Kyle Ostrow (Calgary, Alberta) gained control of the puck and circled behind the UAA goal before sending a pass through the crease. Stationed on the doorstep, Salazar made no mistake and buried his 15th goal of the season to help DU advance.
With the victory, the Pioneers will head to the WCHA Final Five for the second consecutive season and the third time in five years. The squad’s next opponent will be the Wisconsin Badgers, who advanced after sweeping the Minnesota State Mavericks.
“We weren’t very sharp to start the game. We were sloppy and lackadaisical at times,” Denver head coach George Gwozdecky said. “Regardless, I’m proud of our team and we’re looking forward to a challenge next week.”
The Pioneers twice rallied back from one-goal deficits in the opening frame, which ended with the teams heading to their respective locker rooms tied at 2-2.
After UAA’s Kevin Clark opened the scoring by beating Marc Cheverie (Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia) at 6:54, Rhett Rakhshani (Huntington Beach, Calif.) answered back with a wrister from the slot at 11:54 off an Anthony Maiani (Shelby Township, Mich.) centering feed.
The goal was Rakhshani’s 15th of the season and marked the 100th point of his collegiate career, making him the 90th member of the Pioneer Century Club for 100-point scorers. The junior forward has 39 goals and 61 assists in 112 career games.
Tommy Grant again gave the Seawolves a one-goal advantage with a wrist shot from the left circle at 14:37, but Jesse Martin (Edmonton, Alberta) evened the game after creating a turnover at the UAA blue line and beating netminder Bryce Christianson (21 saves) with 1:21 remaining in the opening frame.
The teams traded power-play goals in the second period. Patrick Mullen (Pittsburgh, Pa.) tallied from the left faceoff dot at 14:36, while Mat Robinson replied for the Seawolves at 16:33.
DU had killed off 32 of its last 33 penalties (97.0%) prior to Robinson’s tally, including a pair of 5-on-3 advantages for UAA earlier in the period.
Cheverie stopped 31 shots to pick up his 22nd victory of the season.
The Pioneers scored on one of their two power-play chances while holding the Seawolves to one goal on four opportunities.
Notes: DU sits third in the latest PairWise Rankings...The Pioneers played tonight’s game without junior forward Tyler Ruegsegger (Lakewood, Colo.), who suffered a lower body injury in last night’s game after sparking DU’s comeback with a pair of goals in the second period...DU has posted a 68-53-6 all-time record in the WCHA Playoffs, which includes a league-leading 15 playoff titles...The Pioneers have notched at least one power-play goal in their last 10 games and are 15-for-51 (29.4%) during that stretch.
