Cale Ashcroft may not score many goals – just three so far this season – but when he does, you can bet they’re important. With just 20 seconds remaining in a tight, nationally televised nonconference matchup between the #6 Denver Pioneers (15-4-0, 4-4-0 NCHC) and #7 Maine Black Bears (12-4-2, 5-2-2 HE), Ashcroft sent a seeing-eye shot through a maze of Maine skaters, past a helpless Albin Boija, and into the back of the net to break a 1-1 deadlock. The shot silenced a raucous Alfond Arena crowd and lifted the Pioneers to a 2-1 road victory. While one win, even against a team as elite as Maine, cannot rinse all of the bad taste from last weekend’s exhibition disaster from our collective mouths, this game certainly went a long way to getting the season back on track.
Ashcroft’s goal started with a huge offensive zone faceoff win by Kieran Cebrian. The sophomore center won the puck back to Eric Pohlkamp who immediately fired a shot off of a Black Bear skater. Fortunately, Ashcroft was positioned perfectly to pause and let the puck get to him before finding a shooting lane that Boija could not see. As the Maine crowd that went from 100 to 0 immediately in the clip below indicates, Ashcroft did. not. miss.
Cale Ashcroft’s game-winner is tonight’s @Safeway Goal of the Game!#GoPios pic.twitter.com/YmJvQu80zC
— Denver Hockey (@DU_Hockey) January 4, 2025
Opening 2025 with a nationally televised instant-classic victory over a legitimate national title contender in their barn, in the far reaches of central Maine might just be what DU needed to put a December to Forget behind them.
Oh, and Ashcroft’s other two goals this season? Just the game-winners in Denver’s 4-2 victory over Wisconsin and 2-1 victory over Colorado College. Not bad.
Game two starts tomorrow afternoon/evening at 4:30 pm MT. That game will not be televised on ESPNU but it will be available to stream on ESPN+ if you get it.
Fantastic win! Go Pioneers!
Cale Ashcroft’s goals count in a big way! Amazing. The game was the same kind of war the Pioneers faced on the east coast last April. And, as bad as Matt Davis was against UNLV last Saturday, he showed up big time tonight and was the difference in the game. He had no chance on the lone Maine goal and stopped everything else. The UNLV disaster might have actually been a good thing for Denver. The UNLV goalie was hot and probably played the best game of his life. The fact that DU came back with four goals to tie in the third period showed this team’s skill and determination.
The box score appears to have given Lorenz the goal.
However, we don’t care….We’re just glad DU pulled it out tonight.
DU hadn’t won in that Alfond snakepit since 1985. Great way to kickoff the second half of the season !
Not as nervous about the ending this time because we weren’t facing a 6 on 3 penalty kill in the closing seconds.
What is the T V coverage for tonight’s game??
ESPN+ I think. There’s a lot of hockey on ESPN+, including a lot of NHL and NCAA women’s and men’s games.
Mr. Clutch, Cale Ashcroft, comes through again!
Obviously a hell of a win for the Pios last night and a great way to start the new year. Maine seems to be a really good team and worthy of their ranking. Combine that with the long cross-country road trip, and it makes the W an extra special one. DU had to grind that one out, get some terrific goaltending by Matt Davis, and ultimately it was a great shot by Ashcroft to secure the win. Good things happen when you get the puck to the net.
That win certainly helps get rid of some of the stench from last weekend’s debacle against UNLV.