Lowell Hockey Win Cliches NCAA Spot For DU

ESPN's Barry Melrose

Lowell University's hockey team defeated Providence 2-1 on Friday evening in the Hockey East playoffs.  The victory clinched a spot in the 16-team NCAA Tournament for the University of Denver.

Thanks to  other upsets in conference tournaments last night, DU continued to rise in the Pairwise Rankings eventually settling at #10.

Depending on how the conference championship games go today, DU will end up anywhere between #8 and #12.  The most like scenarios are #9 or #10.

DU will find out where they are heading and whom they will play in the NCAA Tournament on Sunday.  Anish Shroff, Barry Melrose and Dave Starman will host the 2013 NCAA Ice Hockey Tournament Selection Show at 7 PM MT Sunday evening on ESPNU.

Latest Pairwise Rankings

DU 5 - UMass Lowell 1 FINAL

(above) DU's big victory earned them front page coverage in the online version of the sports section of the Denver Post

Offensive output was supposed to be a question mark for the University of Denver hockey team coming into this season. In the opening game, the question appears to be answered. DU scored five goals and cruised to a 5-1 victory over the University of Massachusetts-Lowell. 

Daniel Doremus scored a career-high two goals and Ty Loney, Nolan Zajac & David Makowski added one apiece.

Sam Brittain threw in 37 saves for good measure.

Denver Post Game Recap

Denver Pioneers.com Game Recap

DU Line Chart

Boxscore

DU Hockey, Soccer & Lax Events Colide

Its a busy weekend at DU and parking WILL be an issue so plan accordingly. Besides the events listed below Women's Soccer, Women's Lacrosse and a Gymnastics event will also take place on campus. 

Friday night its Men's Soccer vs. San Jose State & the hockey team vs. UMass-Lowell. Both games start at 7:30 PM. 

On Saturday the Pioneers' Lacrosse team is hosting the Denver Outlaws at 1:30 PM in the annual Colorado Lacrosse Showcase. On Saturday night the DU hockey team will face Air Force @ 7 PM.

Tickets for all events are available online at DenverPioneers.com

Finally, Its Hockey Night In Denver

While the NHL Strike continues to drag on, the #7 University of Denver's hockey season finally gets underway tonight against #9 University of Massachusetts-Lowell.  UMass-Lowell had a breakout year last year going 24-13-1. making the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1996.

Speaking of Lowell, they added Dwayne Roloson, a 16-year veteran of the NHL, as a volunteer assistant coach this week.

The Pioneers are 7-2-0 all-time against UMass-Lowell in a series that began in 1984. However, the teams have not faced each other since the 2006-07 season. The River Hawks have not beaten the Pioneers since Dec. 5, 1986, when it won 5-4 in overtime, and have never won in Denver. 

Lowell head coach Norm Bazin worked as an assistant at Colorado College for eight years.

In preseason polls UML was picked by the Hockey East coaches to finish second behind defending national champion Boston College.  So tonight's game is sure to have significant Pairwise ranking implications at the end of the season.
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The River Hawks are coming off a 1-1 draw against the University of Vermont last week.  Junior goaltender Doug Carr stopped 27 shots in the opening game of the seson for the River Hawks.

DU #1 In Sporting News College Hockey Poll

(above) DU is #1 in another college hockey poll

The Sporting News' Top 20 Preseason Poll ranks the University of Denver first in the nation, according to the magazine's 2009-10 Hockey Yearbook. Denver, who finished 23-12-5 last season.

The Pioneers were followed by Miami (Ohio) (23-13-5), Michigan (29-11-0) & UMass-Lowell (20-16-2) to round out the top four, while Notre Dame (31-6-3) comes in at number five.

Continuing a recent trend, Colorado College was unranked.