DENVER - The No. 2 University of Denver hockey team jumped out to an early lead, but New Hampshire's Grayson Downing and Kevin Goumas both had hat tricks to give the No. 3 Wildcats a 6-4 win over the Pioneers at Magness Arena on Saturday night.

"We started off much better tonight than we did on Friday night," head coach George Gwozdecky said. "I don't think anybody was pleased with what happened last night. What really hurt us tonight was our puck management. It was as bad as it has been all year long. Any time you give the puck away against a quality team like New Hampshire, they're going to make you pay."   

Freshman Gabe Levin (Marina del Rey, Calif.), and sophomores Daniel Doremus (Aspen, Colo.), Matt Tabrum (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Ty Loney (Valencia, Pa.) all scored for the Pioneers (9-3-0, 7-1-0 WCHA).

The Wildcats (8-1-2, 6-1-1 HE) trailed 3-0 and later 4-2, but scored four unanswered goals in the third period.

Levin found his own rebound behind the goal and scored on a shot off UNH goaltender Casey DeSmith's back at the 5:18 mark in the first period. Senior Chris Knowlton (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and sophomore Josiah Didier (Littleton, Colo.) earned assists on the play.

Just 65 seconds later, Doremus ripped a wrister for a goal from the right circle with freshman Nolan Zajac (Winnipeg, Manitoba) and junior David Makowski (Wildwood, Mo.) earning assists.

The Pioneers continued the offensive onslaught, when Tabrum scored top shelf over DeSmith's left shoulder at 9:05 in the first period. Loney and freshman Quentin Shore (Denver, Colo.) received assists on the play, at which point DeSmith was removed from the game in favor of backup Jeff Wyer.

The Wildcats got one back at the 3:49 mark in the second period, as the Pioneers gave up the second shorthanded goal of the weekend. Eric Knodel chipped a pass to Kevin Goumas for a 2-on-1 breakaway, and Grays Downing scored on a wrist shot.

New Hampshire cut it to a goal at the 7:41 mark in the second, when Downing got his second goal, again from Goumas.

Loney gave DU some cushion with an unassisted goal at the 10:09 mark in the second period, burying a rebound.

Downing got his hat trick goal on a breakaway just 1:39 into the third period, cutting the DU lead back to one goal with Justin Agosta getting the assist.

Goumas tied the game at the 13:24 mark in the third period, scoring on a rebound, as Casey Thrush and Maxi Gaudreault got the assists.

With 3:20 left in the game, Goumas fired a shot to the glove side of DU goaltender Sam Brittain (Calgary, Alberta), sneaking the puck just inside the near post for the unassisted, go-ahead goal.

Goumas got his third goal on an empty net with 23 seconds on the clock after receiving a pass from Trevor van Riemsdyk.

The Pioneers were 0-for-5 on the power play, matching their statistics from last night and extending DU's skid to 11-straight power plays without a goal, while New Hampshire went 0-for-1.

Brittain made 25 saves in the game, while Wyer had 18 saves in his first action of the season.

The Pioneers resume WCHA play next weekend against Wisconsin, hosting the Badgers at Magness Arena on Friday at 8:07 p.m. MT and Saturday at 7:07 p.m. MT.

Visit DenverPioneers.com for complete coverage of all 17 of DU's NCAA Division I sports.

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