Denver, UND share spoils
It was difficult to imagine anything other than a split when top-ranked Denver hosted No. 3 North Dakota last weekend, and while that’s what we got, we had an interesting ride along the way.
In Friday’s opener, UND dug out of a 3-0 hole and took a 4-3 lead six minutes into the third period on a power play goal from Christian Wolanin. Denver’s Troy Terry tied the game at four midway through the period on another power play before Johnny Simonson scored the game-winner 2:31 from time by deflecting in a shot from the point by Hayden Shaw.
Denver exacted revenge Saturday night with a 4-1 win over the Fighting Hawks. Three DU goals came on power plays in a game in which the penalty minutes were 27-2 against UND. Henrik Borgstrom had two goals and as many assists, while Terry had a goal and two helpers.
DU (7-3-2) is off this week ahead of a trip Dec. 1-2 to Minnesota Duluth. UND (8-3-3) hosts Union this weekend.
Huskies roll to sweep
Colorado College came into last weekend with already seven wins to their names, but it would’ve been impressive for them to get an eighth or ninth at second-ranked St. Cloud State.
Neither one happened. Instead, SCSU rolled to a pair of victories, trouncing the Tigers 6-1 on Friday before beating CC again 5-1 in Saturday’s rematch.
After going 0-3 on the power play in Friday’s win, St. Cloud scored three times with the man advantage Saturday. Four Huskies goals came in a busy third period off the sticks of four different SCSU skaters. That perhaps comes as no surprise, considering six different Huskies scored in Friday’s win.
SCSU (9-2), which could take the country’s top spot today, is off until it visits Omaha next weekend. CC (7-7) won’t play again until the Tigers’ home-and-home series with Denver on Dec. 7-8.
Broncos remain strong at home
Fifteenth-ranked Western Michigan is now 7-1-1 at home this season after a sweep last weekend of Omaha.
In Friday’s 4-1 win, the Broncos scored the game’s opening four goals before Teemu Pulkkinen ruined Western goaltender Ben Blacker’s shutout bid with 52 seconds to go. On Saturday, WMU got two first-period goals from Wade Allison before three teammates also found the back of the net en route to a 5-2 victory.
Ethen Frank found Western’s fourth goal of the night particularly memorable. A native of Papillion, Neb., located in the Omaha metropolitan area, scored shorthanded after teammate Hugh McGing blocked a UNO shot.
Frank played youth hockey in Omaha and played in juniors an hour away in Lincoln. He was quoted Sunday in the Omaha World-Herald after scoring against the Mavericks. Frank verbally committed to Western in 2014.
WMU (8-4-1) hosts No. 19 Colgate later this week, while Omaha (4-5-1) welcomes former CCHA rival Northern Michigan to Baxter Arena.
