DENVER - The advanced billing hyped it up to be a physically intense, tight-checking battle between two of the nation's top teams, and that's exactly what the 6,037 fans at Magness Arena were treated to.
In a brilliant display of goaltending, freshman Drew Shore's power-play goal midway through the second period held up as the only scoring in a 1-0 Denver victory over the second-ranked Fighting Sioux.
With the win, the third-ranked Pioneers (7-3-1, 5-1-1 WCHA) moved into a tie with UND (7-3-1, 5-3-1 WCHA) for second place in the WCHA standings, two points behind first-place Colorado College. CC defeated Robert Morris tonight in non-conference action.
After UND's Brad Eidsness (So., Chestmere, Alberta) and DU's Marc Cheverie matched each other save for save through the first period-and-a-half, it was the Pioneers' Shore who finally found the net, converting a Joe Colborne feed on a 3-on-2 rush during a Sioux line change.
"We made what turns out to be a poor (line) change and that ended up being the difference in the game," said UND head coach Dave Hakstol.
Shore's goal was but a brief interruption in the goaltending battle between two All-WCHA netminders. Eidsness turned aside a season-high 33 shots, while Cheverie, making his first start after a three-week injury absence, countered with 34 saves for his fourth shutout of the season.
The Pioneers, fresh off of a bye week, came out buzzing in the first period but could not dent Eidsness despite a 14-6 edge in shots on goal.
UND was able to slowly balance the momentum and, at times, completely took over the game in the final 40 minutes. Sophomore forward Jason Gregoire (Winnipeg, Manitoba) had the best chance of the night for the Sioux, but he was thwarted by Cheverie on a second-period breakaway, just under three minutes prior to Shore's goal.
Also in the second period, fellow sophomore Brett Hextall (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) wired a shot off the post after a faceoff in the DU zone during a Sioux power-play, one of two posts on the night by the Sioux.
The Sioux completely carried play in the third period as the searched for the equalizer and outshot the Pioneers 16-6 in the frame. UND nearly tied the game with just under 40 seconds remaining, as Gregoire created a 2-on-1 inside the DU zone and slid a pass to Darcy Zajac (Sr., Winnipeg, Manitoba) streaking to the net. Zajac, on his backhand, was able to get a shot off but it slid inches wide of the post.
UND would get one final chance with a faceoff in the offensive zone with 7.6 seconds remaining but was unable to get another last-ditch shot on goal.
Hakstol praised the all-freshman forward line of Mike Cichy-Corban Knight-Danny Kristo for its play.
"I thought offensively they probably had our most opportunitites 5-on-5. They had fresh legs, they had a lot of jump and they did a real good job.
"We challenged those guys earlier this week. With the background those three guys have, they should not be taking a back seat to any line."
The Sioux went 0-for-6 on the power-play for the second straight game, while the Pioneers went 1-for-7 with the man advantage.
Cheverie stayed unbeaten at 5-0-0 while Eidsness dropped to 6-2-1.
The two teams will square off again on Saturday at 8:07 p.m. Central.
"We're going to come out and go to war tomorrow night," said Hakstol."
Notes: Freshman F Corban Knight led the Sioux with five shots on goal ... Eidsness was named the game's third star. Cheverie and Shore were named the first and second stars, respectively ... Denver's 34 shots on goal were the most by a Sioux opponent this season. UND had been allowing just under 21 shots against per game.
~Go Sioux~
