The No. 3 DU Pioneers completed a weekend sweep of No. 18 UNO on Saturday night, defeating the Mavericks by a score of 5-0 at Magness Arena to tie Minnesota-Duluth for First Place in the NCHC Standings at 35 points. Denver has now won eight straight head-to-head matchups with Omaha dating back to last season.
“We were firing on all cylinders tonight,” Denver head coach Jim Montgomery said following Saturday’s impressive home win. “We had great puck support and skated well all night long and everyone played their roles well. It’s great to be back on top of the conference standings and if we continue to play like this we’ll definitely be in good shape to contend for the Penrose Cup down the stretch.”
Denver took an early 1-0 lead on Saturday when sophomore winger Colin Staub (Colorado Springs, Colo.) one-timed a pass from Liam Finlay (Kelowna, B.C.) to the back of Omaha’s net in the seventh minute of play. Senior forward Matt Marcinew (Calgary, Alta.) doubled the hosts’ advantage six minutes later, banging home a loose puck deep in Mavericks territory to register the eighth goal of his season. A sharp-angle goal of the stick of second-year forward Logan O’Connor (Calgary, Alta.) then gave the hosts a 3-0 lead as Saturday’s intraconference showdown entered its first intermission.
The Pioneers further added to their lead in the middle frame as senior defenseman Matt VanVoorhis (Grand Forks, N.D.) tallied his first marker of the season midway through the stanza and Staub netted his second goal of the game shortly thereafter. Period No. 3 produced nothing in the way of offense for either side, with senior DU netminder Evan Cowley(Evergreen, Colo.) assuming goaltending duties with 9:03 remaining in regulation to share the shutout with junior goalie Tanner Jaillet (Red Deer, Alta.).
Denver (18-6-4, 10-3-3-2 NCHC) will have next weekend off prior to taking on regional adversaries Colorado College in a home-and-home series on February 10 & 11.
