DENVER, Colo. -- Denver goalie Peter Mannino stopped all 27 shots he faced to lead the third-ranked Pioneers to a 1-0 win over eighth-ranked North Dakota in a Western Collegiate Hockey Association men's hockey game on Friday. It was the 12th career shutout for Denver's senior goaltender.
Denver raised its record to 10-3-0 overall and 7-2-0 in the WCHA, while North Dakota fell to 6-5-1 overall and 4-5-0 in the WCHA.
The Pioneers scored the only goal of the game at 4:34 of the second period while on the power play.
After UND had killed off the first four Denver power-play chances, the Pioneers' Tyler Bozak scored the game winner five seconds into their fifth opportunity. Bozak won a faceoff in the left circle back to Chris Butler at the right point and then headed toward the net. Butler skated a couple of strides with the puck before firing a wrist shot from just inside the blue line that Bozak deflected in with a skate for his seventh goal of the season.
Bozak's goal narrowly made it under the pads of Sioux goalie Jean-Philippe Lamoureux (Sr., Grand Forks, N.D.), who made several difficult saves throughout the game and stopped 26 Denver shots on the night.
Denver had two excellent chances to extend its lead just minutes after Bozak's goal, but Dustin Jackson's shot from the right circle deflected off the near pipe, and then Lamoureux stopped Brock Trotter from in close moments later.
UND dominated the game in the opening minutes of a scoreless first period, putting on an impressive forechecking display in the Pioneers' end. However, three Fighting Sioux penalties in just over eight minutes allowed Denver to put on some pressure of its own. The Sioux killed all three of those Denver power-play chances, but the Pioneers wound up outshooting the Sioux 12-7 in the period, with three of their shots coming on the power play.
The Sioux had one power-play opportunity late in the first, but defenseman Robbie Bina (Sr., Grand Forks, N.D.) fired a shot off the post on UND's best scoring chance of that man advantage.
The biggest save of the first period came when Lamoureux made a sprawling pad save on the Pioneers' Dustin Jackson on a 2-on-1 midway through the period.
UND outshot Denver 13-9 in the third period, and pulled Lamoureux for the final minute. It appeared that Sioux forward Chris VandeVelde (So., Moorhead, Minn.) jammed the puck under Mannino with 27 seconds left, but after a review by the referee, it was ruled that the puck never crossed the goal line.
Denver outshot North Dakota 29-27 in the game. The Pioneers were whistled for just two penalties all night, while UND had five penalties.
The teams will conclude their two-game series Saturday with an 8:07 p.m. (Central time) start.
NOTES: A sellout crowd of 6,034 was on hand. It was the third time that UND has been shut out this season and the fourth 1-0 loss the Sioux have suffered in the past three seasons.
