Pioneers net two goals in final 36 seconds to tie Colorado College
March 3, 2007
COLORADO SPRINGS - The No. 6/7 Denver Pioneers netted two goals in the final 36 seconds of the game after pulling goaltender Peter Mannino (Farmington Hills, Mich.) to earn a dramatic 5-5 overtime tie against No. 17 Colorado College in WCHA action before a sellout crowd of 7,820 at World Arena. DU (21-13-4, 13-11-4 WCHA) earns a fourth-place finish in the WCHA with the tie, while CC (17-15-4, 13-12-3 WCHA) finishes fifth. The Pioneers host seventh-place Wisconsin next weekend in the first round of the WCHA Playoffs.
COLORADO SPRINGS - The No. 6/7 Denver Pioneers netted two goals in the final 36 seconds of the game after pulling goaltender Peter Mannino (Farmington Hills, Mich.) to earn a dramatic 5-5 overtime tie against No. 17 Colorado College in WCHA action before a sellout crowd of 7,820 at World Arena. DU (21-13-4, 13-11-4 WCHA) earns a fourth-place finish in the WCHA with the tie, while CC (17-15-4, 13-12-3 WCHA) finishes fifth. The Pioneers host seventh-place Wisconsin next weekend in the first round of the WCHA Playoffs.
"Our guys can feel a sense of accomplishment with their comeback," DU head coach George Gwozdecky said. "We got out-played in the first half of the game, but our team believed we could make a comeback and we did."
Trailing 5-3 in the closing moments, Gwozdecky pulled Mannino (24 saves) at 17:33 of the third period. Keith Seabrook (Delta, British Columbia) made it 5-4 at 19:24 and Ryan Dingle(Steamboat Springs, Colo.) sent it to overtime when he banged in a Tyler Ruegsegger (Lakewood, Colo.) pass with just four seconds remaining in regulation.
CC started fast by netting three of its five power-play goals in the first period. Mike Testwuide gave CC a 1-0 lead and Chad Rau and Jack Hillen made it 3-0 with power-play tallies after a 5-minute checking-from-behind penalty on DU's Cody Brookwell (Calgary, Alberta). Chris Butler (St. Louis, Mo.) made it 3-1 at 16:56 of the first period when he beat Matt Zaba (29 saves) stick side. CC outshot DU 17-5 in the opening stanza.
DU and CC scored two goals each in an entertaining second period. Rau gave the Tigers a 4-1 lead with a power-play goal at 4:09. Ruegsegger answered on the power play for DU at 6:25. Lee Sweatt scored CC's fifth power-play goal on a 5-on-3 advantage at 8:32. Brock Trotter (Brandon, Manitoba) netted the final goal of the period at 10:33. DU outshot CC 10-6 in the period.
Trotter led the Pioneers with one goal and two assists, while Rakhshani added three assists. Butler, Dingle and Ruegsegger added one goal and one assist for DU, which outshot CC 34-29 and finished 1-for-6 on the power play.
Rau led the Tigers with two goals, while Bill Sweatt and Andreas Vlassopoulos added three assists each for the Tigers. CC finished a sparkling 5-for-9 on the power play.
The Pioneers and Badgers battle in game one of the WCHA Playoffs on Friday, March 9 at 7:37 p.m. at Magness Arena. The best 2-of-3 series winner advances to the WCHA Final Five on March 15-17 in St. Paul, Minn.
Notes: DU is currently 10th in the latest PairWise Rankings...CC won the season series 3-0-1...DU is now 3-11-1 when allowing the game's first goal... Butler's first period goal snapped a school record 136:56 scoreless minutes streak for DU...Tickets for the first round of the WCHA Playoffs at Magness Arena on March 9-11 are on sale at the Ritchie Center North Box Office, online at www.Ticketmaster.com or by phone at (303) 830-TIXS.
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