No. 2 Pioneers do a number on No. 1
It was expected to be a showcase for NCAA hockey … and it lived up to the billing.
On the opening night of a rare regular-season two-game matchup of the top two teams in the national rankings, the No. 2 Denver Pioneers got a goal and two assists from forward Troy Terry and knocked off No. 1 Minnesota Duluth 4-3 on Friday at Magness Arena.
“He was great tonight,” DU coach Jim Montomery said of Terry, the sophomore from Highlands Ranch. “If he can play better, I’m going to take it. But I’d like him to stay at that level.”
The Pioneers (12-2-3) extended their undefeated streak to 15 games and leapfrogged the Bulldogs to take over first place in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference by two points..
“We knew coming in how good of a team they were,” Terry said of the Bulldogs. “I think they
showed it, and we showed how good of a team we can be. It was really an awesome game to be a part of. It was our biggest game yet and the speed of it showed how well both teams can skate and it was a very fast-paced game up and down.”
The Pioneers and the Bulldogs meet again Saturday night. As they have been for the past three games, the Pioneers again will be without standout freshman center Henrik Borgstrom, unavailable with what DU says is an unspecified illness. Meantime, Terry has moved from wing to center to fill the void.
UMD left wing Alex Iafallo staked the Bulldogs to a 1-0 lead with his 10th goal of the season at 13:04 of the first period, stripping DU defenseman Blake Hillman of the puck near the boards and breaking in alone, cutting in front of goalie Tanner Jaillet and beat- ing him to the stick side.
The Pioneers got even on a nice goal from the fourth line, with Tyson McLellan deflecting a Bulldog pass before Colin Staub centered the puck for Kevin Conley, who knocked it past Bulldogs goalie Hunter Miska at 7:03 of the second period. It was the first collegiate goal for Conley, the freshman left wing from Wasau, Wis.
DU seemed to take control with a pair of goals in a span of 22 seconds, with Terry setting up the first and scoring the second. Logan O’Connor got his second goal of the season off a rebound of a Terry shot before Terry got his ninth of the year when he got to a carom off the end boards and beat Miska between his legs with a backhander. That put the Pioneers up 3-1 at 11:49 of the second, but the Bulldogs were back within one at 13:41 when Joey Hamilton’s shot from the top of the left circle got past a screened Jaillet.
DU had a two-goal lead again when Terry set up Jarid Lukosevicius for what turned out to be the game-winner at 3:24 of the third. Actually, Terry set him up twice, the first time before. Miska made the initial save on Lukosevicius. But the puck rebounded right to Terry, who fed it again to Lukosevicius in the slot for another pointblank shot that got past Miska this time.
“He’s actually my roommate, … so if he didn’t score on the second one, I would have given him some crap,” Terry said, smiling. “He got in the right place and he’s done a really good job of being the shooter guy on the top line all year.”
UMD center Sammy Spurrell’s tip of a shot from the point got past Jaillet to make it 4-3 with 2:05 left in regulation, but the Pioneers held on.
In part because DU doesn’t resume classes until after the New Year and many — or even most — students aren’t around, Magness wasn’t a full house for the first night of the weekend showdown between Nos. 1 and 2. Official attendance was 5,870, and capacity is 6,315.