Madison, Wis. – The No. 8 Denver Pioneers (11-4-2, 4-4-0-0) scored three goals in 2:19 early in the third period to spark a 6-3 victory against the Wisconsin Badgers (8-8-3, 4-3-3-1) on Friday at the Kohl Center.
 
After going into the second intermission tied 2-2, the Pioneers got contributions from three different goal scorers beginning at 2:43 of the third period and sealed their fourth-straight win. Liam Finlay paced the Pioneers with one goal and two assists, while Ian Mitchell, Tyler Ward and Ryan Barrow each had a couple points.
 
"It was a great response in the third period," Richard and Kitzia Goodman Head Coach David Carle said. "I thought in the offensive zone we possessed pucks a lot better, we were cutting back, we were in on the forecheck, our sticks were on the ice, we were creating turnovers and ultimately we were capitalizing on some of the chances we weren't able to bury in the second."
 
The Pioneers converted on their first power play of the night as Mitchell carried the puck into the neutral zone before passing to Finlay, who found Slava Demin jumping into the play. Demin's shot from the left circle beat Daniel Lebedeff to give Denver a 1-0 lead only 4:15 into the game.
 
Wisconsin tied it 1-1 early in the second period with Tyler Inamoto's one-timer from the point. The deadlock held through the majority of the frame and two Denver power plays before the Pioneers struck again. At 15:31 of the second, Michael Davies fought to push the puck behind the Badger net where Ryan Barrow collected the pass and stuffed a wraparound behind Lebedeff to make it 2-1. Wisconsin equalized for the second time in the period at 19:19 when Seamus Malone's last-ditch attempt to put the puck on goal resulted in a fortunate bounce between the near post and the left pad of Filip Larsson, who replaced the game's starter, Devin Cooley, at 8:24 of the period.
 
Finlay opened Denver's third-period onslaught, finding a rebound from Ward's shot and tucking it around Lebedeff at 2:43 of the frame. Shortly after, Mitchell carried the puck around the net to the left circle before dishing a rink-wide pass to a wide-open Ward. Kohen Olischefski capped the surge with his first goal of the season at 5:24 of the third. Wisconsin scored once more before the end of the night, but Jake Durflinger's empty-net goal re-established the Pioneers' three-goal advantage.
 
Colin Staub extended his point streak to seven games with two goals and five assists. Barrow extended his point streak to five games with three goals and three assists. Cooley made 13 saves, while Larsson finished with 12.
 
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