DENVER – Rhett Rakhshani (Huntington
Beach, Calif.) and Brock Trotter (Brandon, Manitoba)
each notched a goal and one assist and Marc Cheverie (Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia) recorded 26 saves
in his first
collegiate start as the No. 4 Denver Pioneers (18-6-0) topped the Bemidji State
Beavers (11-11-2) by a 4-2 count Saturday night before 6,035 fans at Magness
Arena.
The
Pioneers snapped a two-game skid with the victory and improved their home record
to 11-3-0 in the process.
“There’s
no question that our willingness to compete was much better than last night.” Denver head coach George Gwozdecky said. “Marc really
earned that one by making a couple of terrific saves at very important times of
the game.”
Tyler
Scofield gave Bemidji
State an early lead after
skating in all alone and tucking a backhand between Cheverie’s legs at 6:19,
but the Pioneers answered with two goals before the end of the first period.
Tyler Bozak (Regina,
Saskatchewan) notched his 11th goal of the
season after depositing the rebound of a Rakhshani attempt past Bemidji netminder Orlando
Alamano (28 saves) at 9:32. Matt Glasser (Calgary, Alberta) then recorded his first goal as a Pioneer when
he buried a Brandon Vossberg (St. Paul, Minn.)
feed from just outside the crease at 14:00.
Rakhshani
extended DU’s lead to 3-1 with a wrister from the slot area at 3:57 of the
second period with the Pioneers on the power play, but the Beavers got one back
before the end of the period on a Blaine Jarvis tally at 11:22.
Trotter
rounded out the scoring with a shorthanded tally in the third period. After
finding himself alone on a breakaway, Trotter faked to his backhand before
putting a forehand attempt past Alamano at 7:38.
The
Beavers pulled Alamano with two minutes remaining for an extra skater, but
Cheverie and the Pioneers shut the door down the stretch.
DU outshot
Bemidji by a
32-28 margin. The Pioneers went 1-for-8 on the power play, while the Beavers
finished 1-for-6.
Notes: DU is now 5-0 all-time against
Bemidji State in a series that started in 1967...Trotter’s multi-point effort was
his ninth of the season, while Rakhshani had his fifth game this season with
more than one point...DU has gone 12-for-13 on the penalty kill in its last three
games.