DENVER – The D-U Pioneers beat Colorado College 6-1 Sunday night at Magness Arena, advancing to the NCHC semifinals next weekend in St. Paul.
Troy Terry had four assists and Jarid Lukosevicius scored twice in the victory. Denver will play Minnesota Duluth in the semifinal of the NCHC Frozen Faceoff at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn.
“It was the team’s collective effort of grinding them down,” Denver coach Jim Montgomery said. “It was a mentality we had of grinding them down over time. It took longer than we wanted it to, but we finally got to them tonight.”
Denver flooded Colorado College in the first period, outshooting the Tigers, 15-6, and scoring twice to take a 2-0 lead into the first intermission. Colin Staub and Logan O’Connor connected to give the Pioneers their first goal of the night at 5:11 of the period as Staub drove the net from the left-wing boards and slipped a pass across the crease to O’Connor. Tariq Hammond added to Denver’s lead at 15:57 of the period, catching a pass from Troy Terry in the slot and snapping a shot past Alex Leclerc.
The Pioneers added three (3) goals in the second period, beginning with Jarid Lukosevicius’ tic-tac-toe tally from Borgström and Terry at 6:33 of the period. Following Lukosevicius’ goal, Borgström and Liam Finlay scored 18 seconds apart to give Denver a 5-0 advantage at the second intermission.
Colorado College’s Mason Bergh scored at 7:35 of the third period to make it a 5-1 game, but Lukosevicius’ one-timer for his second goal of the night re-established the Pioneers’ five-goal margin and marked the final tally of the night.
Denver finished 0/2 on the power play and 5/5 on the penalty kill. The Pioneers outshot the Tigers, 40-28.
Tanner Jaillet made 18 saves before being replaced by Devin Cooley at 6:50 of the third period. Cooley finished with 9 saves.
