Pioneers Sweep Gophers... Again
Cheverie Shutsout Gophers... Again
Minneapolis, Minn—The Gophers came into Saturday struggling to score goals, and despite their effort there has been no reward, as the team lost to Denver 3-0 in front of a paid attendance of 9,840.

“Our goaltending was decent tonight, and I thought that defensively we only gave up the one goal five-on-five,” said Minnesota coach Don Lucia. “I thought the guys battled, and did the things we needed to do, but there was absolutely no reward this weekend.”

The Gophers had eight power play attempts and outshot Denver 30-26, but could not find a way past Denver goaltender Marc Cheverie, who earned his third consecutive shutout.

“We’ve got to find ways to score some goals. We had guys that scored some goals last year, and you could just see them start to grip it too much and pucks would bounce over sticks,” said Lucia. “For three straight games, I think we’ve played pretty darn hard and there hasn’t been a reward--that’s sports. You can do the right things, but that doesn’t mean you are going to win.”

Two of their leading returning scorers Mike Hoeffel, 23 goals and 18 assists in 84 career games, and Jordan Schroeder, 13 goals and 32 assists in 38 career games, sill have yet to find a linemate and Schroeder has yet to find a point. Freshman Zach Budish, freshman Nick Larson, and junior Patrick White all got auditions on the top line Saturday night.

“I thought that Budish made some progress this weekend, and I noticed Nick Larson because he can get up and down the rink a bit,” said Lucia. “So we have to look at that so maybe we get some guys ice time who can get around the rink a bit better.”

The Pioneers were predicted to win the WCHA in the 38th annual Grand Forks Herald’s preseason coaches poll and Madison.com media poll, and their performance at Mariucci appears to affirm those accolades by sweeping a roster with 20 NHL drafted players. The Pioneers now have two consecutive sweeps at Mariucci after 5-1 and 4-1 victories last November.

Denver got on the board first when Pioneer forward Luke Salazar found his line mate Kyle Ostrow in front of a trailing Hoeffel on the back door for a easy tap in at 10:15 of the first period.

Denver added to their lead 4:27 into the second when Rhett Rakshani received a pass from defenseman Patrick Wiercioch, and then the senior forward was given time at the top of the circle to put one past Patterson.

Aaron Ness might have had the best opportunity to get a goal for the Gophers midway through the second period while on the power play. Ness got a pass from Schroeder between the circles, but was stoned by Cheverie.

Ostrow got his second of the night 4:12 into the third period on the power play as he received a pass from Drew Shore, walked to the middle, and his shot deflected off the stick of Seth Helgeson.

“All the answers are in our locker room, we have plenty of talent and plenty of skill, we just have to work a little bit harder,” said captain Tony Lucia. “Eventually the hockey gods will pay off, but the work ethic has to be there.”

Notes: Barriball was held out of the game with a hip injury, is day-to-day, and will remain at 99 career points for another week… The faceoff circle is one spot where the Gophers had been struggling, after going the first three games at .455, they picked it up a bit going .615 on Saturday… Minnesota was shutout for the third time this season, they were shut out only twice last season…. Minnesota is 0-20 on the power play on the season… Minnesota attempted 59 shots, but 17 were blocked and 12 missed the net.