DENVER – The No. 5 Denver Pioneers hockey team (15-4-3, 5-3-2-1) built a four-goal lead in the second period that was equal parts necessary and insurmountable as it held through a St. Cloud State push and laid the foundation for Denver's 5-3 win on Saturday at Magness Arena.

Trailing 4-0 in the second period, St. Cloud State responded to score twice before the end of the frame and once at 7:10 of the third to make it 4-3. The Pioneers managed to stave off the Huskies with the help of their only penalty kill with roughly five minutes left in regulation. Denver's win marked its sixth consecutive.
 
"It was certainly a tale of two games," Richard and Kitzia Goodman Head Coach David Carle said. "We started the game how we wanted. The first 35 minutes were everything we wanted them to be, up 4-0, but you have to give them credit. They didn't go away and that's a lesson to be had. In this league it's hard to sweep anybody no matter where you're at. Nobody goes away. We pushed, they pushed back. I give our guys credit, they gutted out a huge kill at the end of the third period to ice the game for us."
 
Scoreless through 20 minutes, the Pioneers returned from the first intermission with offensive firepower. Denver scored four goals by 13:20 of the second period. Brett Edwards opened the scoring with a snap shot from the high slot on Hank Crone's pass. Tyler Ward deflected Michael Davies' shot to make it 2-0 and added his second goal of the night only 1:43 later on a give-and-go with Brett Stapley. Three minutes after Ward made it 3-0, the Pioneers capitalized on a five-on-four man advantage to score on the power play for the third consecutive game. Through Bobby Brink and Ian Mitchell, Denver moved the puck to Emilio Pettersen for a shot from the right circle to gain a four-goal lead.
 
The Huskies had fired only four shots to the midway point of the second period before they started chipping away. Jake Wahlin caught an overhead pass from Kyler Kupka to make it 4-1 at 14:57 of the period, then Will Hammer added a tap-in with less than two minutes left in the period to further dent Denver's lead. St. Cloud State's third-period pressure culminated with Nick Perbix's goal to make it 4-3, but Denver maintained its marginal lead until Stapley fed Pettersen for an empty-netter to ice the game.
 
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Ian Mitchell extended his point streak to four games with an assist. He has one goal and five assists in the stretch…Bobby Brink extended his point streak to five games with an assist. He has two goals and three assists in the stretch…Denver went 1/1 on the penalty kill and 1/3 on the power play…
 
UP NEXT: Denver Hockey presented by Centura Health travels to Omaha for a road series on Jan. 17-18

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