The No. 1 DU Pioneers wrapped up their 2016-17 regular season in style on Saturday night, defeating the No. 21 UNO Mavericks by a score of 3-0 at Baxter Arena to capture their 11th consecutive win. Senior netminder Evan Cowley (Evergreen, Colo.) make 28 saves in backstopping Denver to victory, picking up the fifth shutout of his career and improving to 3-2-0 on the season in the process.
“I’ve said all year that we have the two best goalies in the conference and Evan Cowley proved that tonight – he was spectacular,” Denver head coach Jim Montgomery said following Saturday’s road win. “We didn’t have our ‘A’ game at any point this weekend but we stayed composed and found a way to win on both nights. This is a resilient group we have here and we definitely feel good about where we’re at collectively as we head into the best part of the season – the playoffs.”
After a scoreless opening period, the Pioneers took a 1-0 lead at the 15:24 mark of the middle frame courtesy of Florida Panthers prospectHenrik Borgström (Helsinki, Finland), who deftly stickhandled around a Mavericks defender at the end of an impressive rush into UNO territory prior to wiring home his team-leading 20th goal of the season. Sophomore winger Jarid Lukosevicius (Squamish, B.C.) drew the primary assist on the play.
Denver went up 2-0 early in the third period when senior forward Emil Romig (Vienna, Austria) carried the puck into Omaha’s zone rifled the seventh marker of his season to the back of the Mavericks’ net. A late empty-netter from Borgström sealed the win for the Pios, who end the regular season with an NCAA-best record of 26-6-4.
The Pioneers now enter the NCHC Playoffs as the conference’s top seed. Denver will host Colorado College in a best-of-three quarterfinal series at Magness Arena next weekend with a trip to the Frozen Faceoff on the line.
Featured Image Credit: Denver Pioneers
