Monthly Archives: November 2018

Men's Basketball

Seattle and Denver Follow Similar Path Seeking Hoops Relevance

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When the University of Denver and Seattle University basketball teams meet Friday at 1:00 MT at the Elgin Baylor Classic in Seattle, each program will be fighting for relevance, trying to break a cycle of low past expectations, turn around campus ambivalence and snap the reins of ill-fitting conferences.

But, that only happens with wins and significant fan bases. All made more difficult in large metropolitan areas with many other entertainment options and fan interests – and few natural league rivals. Continue reading Seattle and Denver Follow Similar Path Seeking Hoops Relevance →

Men's Soccer

Air Force won but their fans embarrassed the Academy

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Photo: Courtesy of Air Force Twitter

Let’s begin by saying the best team won last Sunday’s NCAA Tournament soccer match between Denver and the U.S. Air Force Academy – kudos to the AFA for upsetting DU on the road with a fine soccer performance on the field. Also, let’s further establish that our historical experience has normally been a very positive one with Air Force fans – be it lacrosse, hockey or basketball. Typically, our experience with Air Force fans are as exemplary as the high standards of conduct at the Academy. In fact, most of us DU fans cheer on Air Force when the Falcons aren’t playing DU, because the service academies represent some of the finest young men and women who serve our country with pride and distinction.

But yesterday was different. And we believe it was an embarrassment for the cadets and for the academy. Continue reading Air Force won but their fans embarrassed the Academy →

Men's Soccer, Men's Sports

Denver Men’s Soccer Upset by Air Force, 2-1 in NCAA Second Round Soccer Match

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DU’s Stefan DeLeone reacts to DU’s 2-1 Upset Loss to Air  Force in the NCAA Tournament. Photo Credit: Jason Evans

This one hurt.

The Denver Pioneers men’s soccer season came to a crashing halt in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, as the host #15 seeded Pioneers were upset by unseeded Air Force, 2-1 (#25 RPI) at the University of Denver Soccer Stadium on Nov. 18.

The Summit League Champion Pioneers (15-3-2) came out of the gate uncharacteristically  jittery and unsure of themselves on this sunny, cool afternoon. The mood led to two rare DU defensive miscues in the first 29 minutes that led directly to a pair of Air Force goals that would be all the Falcons would need for the upset victory. Continue reading Denver Men’s Soccer Upset by Air Force, 2-1 in NCAA Second Round Soccer Match →

Volleyball

Denver Volleyball Battles Tough but falls to South Dakota in Summit League Title Game

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It may sound like a broken record, but this years DU women’s volleyball (27-2, 15-1) displays their mental toughness every time they step on the court and rebound from seemingly insurmountable deficits and, even, injuries. But Denver could only claw their way back so many times before their luck finally ran out today at Hamilton Gym. The scores were 25-27, 26-24, 25-19, 21-25, and 6-15 as the Pioneers fell in five games to South Dakota in the Summit League Championship game.

Continue reading Denver Volleyball Battles Tough but falls to South Dakota in Summit League Title Game →

Hockey, Men's Sports

Crimson & Gold Show: Episode 2

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The #7 Denver Pioneers were swept last weekend by the #2 St. Cloud State Huskies before coming home and splitting with the top-ranked Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs. There was a lot to unpack from both series as this was likely the Pioneers’ toughest two week stretch of the season. Chris Bayee of Magness Mayhem and I did our best to dissect and understand everything we saw from the past two weeks. Please note that Denver’s record right now is 6-3-1, not 7-2-2. The box score that we were looking at from last night’s game had Denver’s record incorrectly shown. Apologies for the confusion.

Episode 2 of the Crimson & Gold Show is below:

Hockey, Men's Sports

Pioneers blow three-goal lead, split weekend series with top-ranked Bulldogs

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DENVER – A night after shutting out the top-ranked Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs, the #7 Denver Pioneers blew a third-period 3-0 lead to lose 4-3 in overtime at Magness Arena. Scott Perunovich scored with 1.8 seconds left to tie the game at 3 and force overtime before Cole Koepke scored 52 seconds into overtime to stun the Pioneers and complete the UMD comeback. Continue reading Pioneers blow three-goal lead, split weekend series with top-ranked Bulldogs →

Hockey

Pioneers, Cooley Shutout No. 1 Minnesota-Duluth 2-0

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Photo courtesy of DenverPioneers.com

In a highly anticipated match up in college hockey, the Denver Pioneers and Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs didn’t disappoint fans who were in attendance at Magness Arena Friday night.  Although the game started a bit slow, the second and third periods resembled a nail-biting playoff game.

It was expected that the last two National Champions would put up some offense, but it was a tightly checked game.  Let’s get right into it.

First period

The game started on a bad note for the Pioneers when Brett Stapley checked Duluth defenseman Scott Perunovich awkwardly into the boards just 40 seconds into the 1st period.  After review, it was determined that it was a major penalty and Stapley was ejected from the game.  But this was far from the last penalty called in the first period.  Duluth had their own major boarding call but Louie Roehl was not ejected.  There was a total of eight penalties called in the first 20 minutes of the game between both teams.

There seemed to be no control of the puck by either team throughout the period.  Pucks were being chipped in deep and there was little space to skate.  The Pioneers had a few good chances including a breakaway by Cole Guttman and an odd man rush by Colin Staub and Jakko Heikkinen, but Duluth goaltender Hunter Shepard kept everything out of the net.

The Bulldogs defense didn’t let many pucks through all night.  They held the Pioneers to just two shots on goal in the first period.  Led by St. Louis Blues 2018 2nd-round pick Scott Perunovich, the Bulldogs played a low risk game by chipping pucks out of their zone and moving it quickly up the ice out of danger.

The period ended with Duluth leading in shots 7-2.

Second period

The pace started to pick up in the second period.  It seemed like Duluth skated even harder when they were on the penalty kill.  But halfway through the period, the Pioneers went on the powerplay and Ian Mitchell finally got the Pioneers on the board.

After the goal, Duluth started putting the pressure on.  The Pioneers were in prevent mode, shooting pucks off the glass just to keep it out of their zone.  The Bulldogs had several chances, shooting from almost everywhere on the ice.

Devin Cooley stood tall and made some very difficult saves.  After the end of the second, the Bulldogs put 25 shots on Cooley but with no goals.  That’s a pretty significant feat for a backup goaltender to shutout the No. 1 team in the country through two periods.

Third period

In the third period, Duluth came even harder.  They put on another 13 shots on Devin Cooley who had to make save after save to keep the Pioneers in the game.  He was great positionally and really saw the puck well.

David Carle understood what it meant to host the top team in the nation and be up by one goal going into the 3rd period.  He started mixing up lines in the second half of the game, putting a huge emphasis on defense.  The Pioneers got the puck deep and began cycling deep in Duluth’s zone to kill the clock.

We saw several close plays right in front of the Pioneers net, but players were sacrificing their bodies left and right to keep the puck out.  In the last few minutes of the game, Duluth pulled their goalie and put a lot of pressure on the Pioneers.  But with 36 seconds left in the game, Jarid Lukosevicius scored an empty net goal to seal the game.

What we learned

This game was huge for the Pioneers.  It had to be difficult coming home after being swept by the St. Cloud State Huskies, but David Carle had his players focused on what was in front of them.  The Pioneers skated hard and battled through adversity in the form of a ton of penalties.  They didn’t get many shots on net, but they made the best of what they were given.  In games like these, you need your best players to step up, and Ian Mitchell did just that.

Up next

The Pioneers and Bulldogs play again Saturday night in what will be another exciting game.  The Bulldogs can’t be happy after their long winning streak was broken by the Pioneers, and there is no question they will come out hard tomorrow.  The Pioneers will need to do a better job suppressing shots and getting better control of the puck.  Both teams forechecked extremely well so moving the puck quickly will be important.  The Pios will have to shoot more tomorrow night if they want a chance at sweeping the Bulldogs.