CC Beats DU 5-2 to Win MacNaughton and Gold Pan

(above) Kyle Ostrow scored his 10th goal of the season for DU

DENVER - The No. 5 Colorado College Tigers received a pair of third-period goals from junior forward Chad Rau only 12 seconds apart en route to a 5-2 victory over the No. 7 Denver Pioneers tonight in front of 6,141 fans at Magness Arena. With the victory, the Tigers retained possession of the Gold Pan Trophy for the second consecutive year and clinched the MacNaughton Cup.

Kyle Ostrow and Jesse Martin each scored for DU, which received 30 saves from senior netminder Peter Mannino.

The Pioneers remain in third place in the WCHA standings and will host either Michigan Tech or Minnesota Duluth next weekend in the first round of the WCHA playoffs, depending on the results of tomorrow night’s games.

“I have to give Colorado College a lot of credit because they had a lot to play for, took the lead and never relinquished it,” Denver head coach George Gwozdecky said. “We had some gorgeous chances at times, but I know we can play better.”

The Tigers jumped out to a 2-0 lead with an early goal in each of the first two periods. Scott Thauwald scored 2:17 into the game, while Jack Hillen’s shot from the point got past a screened Mannino 20 seconds into the second period.

Ostrow cut CC’s lead in half with a goal at the 6:10 mark of the second period. The freshman winger deposited the rebound of an Andrew Thomas shot past Colorado College netminder Richard Bachman (28 saves) to make it a 2-1 contest. However, Jimmy Kilpatrick reestablished the Tigers’ two-goal lead with a tally from the goalmouth at 16:51.

The Pioneers again made it a one-goal game 1:01 into the third period when Martin beat Bachman high to the glove side from the right faceoff circle, but Rau rounded out the scoring with goals at 5:25 and 5:37 to give CC the win.

CC outshot DU by a 35-30 margin and went 1-for-3 on the power play while holding the Pioneers scoreless in four chances.

The teams finish the home-and-home series tomorrow night in Colorado Springs with puck drop set for 7:07 p.m.

Notes: Denver is sixth in the latest PairWise Rankings...DU sophomore Tyler Ruegsegger returned to the lineup after missing the previous eight games with an abdominal injury...The Pioneers are 12-7-1 against ranked opponents and 5-8 against teams ranked in the top five of the WCHA standings.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

DU SUCKS again...

Anonymous said...

but the blog is hilarious and reminds me of how much fun it is to be a part of the rivalry

Anonymous said...

That had to hurt!

Say my name Pioneer...that's right..I'm your daddy!

Twister said...

DU was beaten by a better hockey team tonight. Plain and simple. The Pios had some good shifts, but overall they just weren't good enough to beat a very talented and hard working CC team.

CC is a hell of a good team. I don't know if they have the scoring depth of UND, but otherwise those two teams are the ones to beat, in my opinion. CC has the best transition game I've seen all year. Everyone on that team skates well and can move the puck. Hillen, Rau, Thauwald etc were as good as advertised. Hillen moves as well any d-man in the country. And Bachman was solid in net. Calm and collected and usually in the right position.

CC is an interesting team. I'm not really sure where they came from, all of a sudden. I don't think were picked that high in the conference. And they are not a team filled with superstars. They sure have gelled nicely this year, however.

Tough loss for the Pios. And tomorrow won't be any easier, unless CC relaxes a bit after winning the regular season.

Anonymous said...

Thing is... DU had the intensity but did you see most of those passes and plays DU made... horrible, sloppy, and not at sync. I mean hell for our Power Plays we couldn't control the puck they were passing it in circles, bouncing off sticks and giving it right back to CC. Shoot and Crash the net... that's all they had to do. Backman or who ever the hell he is gave up a ton of rebounds but no one is there to pick them up.

May this be a lesson to DU. The games will not be easy anymore from this point on.

Anonymous said...

CC has exposed just how bad the defense is. We were out played and out coached. I hope they win the Frozen Four because DU will not be there. I smell defeat in the first round of the playoffs.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for trying DU. ND did not get done what they wanted to either. We will both get to the playoffs and show CC how to do it. They are virgins when it comes to what comes next. If they win the Baron Final 5, then I will most definitely change my tune..... UND

Anonymous said...

yo, 9:50, i hear that there will be a movie made of the years cc team. it will be called the 51 year old virgin.