Box Score USAFA, Colo. -
Marc Cheverie (Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia) tied a career-high with 45 saves and
Kyle Ostrow's (Calgary, Alberta) centering pass found the back of the net as No. 2 Denver survived an upset bid in tonight's 2-1 overtime win against in-state rival Air Force.
The Pioneers increase their winning streak to four games and improve to 18-6-4 overall. Air Force falls to 12-12-6. Matt Donovan (Edmond, Okla.) also scored for Denver. Andrew Volkening stopped 33 shots and Jacques Lamoureux scored for the Falcons, who were shutout 2-0 last night at Colorado College.
"Air Force gave us everything we could handle and much more," DU head coach George Gwozdecky said. "We were certainly fortunate to come away with the win tonight and Cheverie was outstanding once again. We are happy to come away with two nonconference wins this weekend."
After being outshot, 14-7, in the opening stanza, the play of Shawn Ostrow (Calgary, Alberta), Drew Shore (Denver) and Chris Knowlton (Colorado Springs) ignited a strong second period for the Pioneers. Donovan's blast from just inside the blueline put the Pioneers on the board first at 11:21. Rhett Rakhshani (Huntington Beach, Calif.) and Joe Colborne (Calgary, Alberta) earned assists on the play as the Pioneers outshot the Falcons, 19-14.
Air Force tied the score at 1-1 when Lamoureux redirected a shot from the point by Stephen Carew 29 seconds into the third period.
Ostrow's centering pass to Anthony Maiani (Shelby Township, Mich.) bounced off Air Force defenseman Brad Sellers and past Volkening with 57.8 seconds left in overtime to give DU the hard-fought win. John Lee (Moorhead, Minn.) and Brandon Vossberg (St. Paul, Minn.) recorded assists on the game-winning goal.
Air Force outshot the Pioneers, 46-35, and killed all four DU power plays. DU went 2-for-3 on the penalty kill.
DU returns to WCHA action next weekend against Minnesota.
Notes: DU improves to 5-2 in nonconference action. Colborne extended his point streak to a career-best 10 games, while Rakhshani has a three-game point streak. Former Pioneer Brock Trotter made his NHL debut today in Montreal's 5-3 win over Pittsburgh. Jesse Martin (Calgary, Alberta), Brian Gifford (Moorhead, Minn.) and William Wrenn (Anchorage, Alaska) missed the game with injuries.
