Another split weekend and a steamroller...

The DU Pioneers, once again, split the weekend’s games. This time the opponent was the University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs. Their first meeting since the Dogs bounced the Pioneers from the 2005-2006 playoffs ended in a 2-1 OT loss for the Pioneers. Glenn Fisher played another exceptional game, making 36 saves, once again giving the Pioneers a chance to win. Ryan Dingle started the scoring off on an even strength score from Brian Gifford and Rhett Rakhshani in the early minutes of the third period. About 7 minutes later, UMD got on the score board while on a power play. Finally, in OT, UMD sophomore Justin Garrison scored the game winner. In a fun (or maybe not so fun depending on who you are) fact, Justin Garrison has scored 4 goals in his career, all them against DU…

In the second game of the series, Junior goalie Peter Mannino garnered his first win of the 2006-2007 season in a 4-2 decision at the DECC. Nobody says it quite like Coach Gwozdecky so, “We played our best game of the season tonight, Our power play came to life and we had a dominant third period. It was good to see Peter get his first win and Rhett score his first goals as a Pioneer." Ryan Dingle started things off again with a tally in the second period. Rhett Rakhshani scored twice, Tyler Ruegsegger netted the game winner, and Geoff Paukovich got his first point of the season with an assist on one of Rakhshani’s goals.

The Pioneers now stand at 4-4-0 in over play, 2-2-0 in WCHA play. They are tied for third place in the WCHA with Michigan Tech, Minnesota, and St. Cloud State. DU gets a rest this week as they prepare to face the Wisconsin Badgers at the Kohl Center. I personally am looking forward to these games more than some of the others this season as I will be in attendance! The countdown is down to 10 days…

The Colorado College Tigers, as predicted by yours truly, have faltered in their play as of late, having been swept for the second weekend in a row. First, CC was swept by UNH while playing in World Arena (scores were 3-4, and 2-7 both in favor of UNH). Last weekend, the Tigers were humiliated by the Minnesota Golden Gophers in Mariucci Arena. Kellen Briggs (who I refuse to believe has only played for the Goofers for four years) earned a shut-out in the Friday night match, saving 20 shots while Matt Zaba (aka Zaba the Hut) earned his third loss of the season. It only got worse for CC in the Saturday night match when they only managed 12 shots on goal and allowed 2 shorthanded goals. The Tigers now sit at the very bottom of the WCHA standings having scored only 1 goal and allowed 10 goals in conference play. CC looks to bounce back next weekend as they face Michigan Tech (who swept Alaska Anchorage last weekend in 9-0 and 5-3 games) in World Arena.