After falling 2-0 to Colorado College the night before, the Pioneers successfully forced a winner-take-all Game 3 with a 3-2 victory on Friday.

Since making his return from the Olympics, Troy Terry made an impact for the Pioneers — notching two goals to help lift the Pioneers to a 3-2 victory over their in-state rivals.

“People don’t realize how hard it is to come back from the far east (Pyeongchang), and with how much hockey he [Terry] played, he just hasn’t had the energy levels that he is used to. “Coach Jim Montgomery said, “You can see that the emotion and energy levels in his body, and that was Troy Terry on a high-end tonight.”

In a solid individual effort on the penalty kill, Tigers forward Trey Bradley would beat the Pioneers’ defense for a loose puck at the point, making a shifty move before sliding the puck past Tanner Jaillet to give the Tigers the lead.

The Tigers’ goal would prove to be the lone goal in the period, as things would continue to heat up between these two rivals. The boiling point would occur near the end of the first period in the Pioneers corner, with Adam Plant receiving multiple cross checks from Tigers forward Nick Halloran.

“We just keep talking about being hard to play against between whistles,” Montgomery said. “I think we are the least penalized team in the league for a reason”.

Following a disallowed goal in the first period, the Pioneers would get themselves back on track at the start of the second period with a goal from Henrik Borgström.

Near the end of the period, the Tigers would regain the lead with a near-identical goal from Borgström with a shot from the point coming off of the stick of Kristian Blumenschein.

The Pioneers would come up with the equalizer later in the second period, however, as Terry would tally his first goal of the night off a rebound to tie the game.

In a time where each team had plenty of chances, Denver had have the last laugh, as Terry would come down the wing and fire a shot past Leclerc.

The Pioneers will look to turn up the heat once again tonight, as they will hope to eliminate the Colorado College Tigers in a winner-take-all game situation at 6:00 PM at Magness Arena.