2008 Woodie Awards
On thin ice
Pioneers are now 1 in 4 in the last 5 games after getting swept at MSU
Brooks Kirchheimer
Issue date: 2/5/08 Section: Sports
The struggles continued for Pioneer hockey this past weekend as they were defeated 5-1 and 3-2 at the hands of Minnesota State with the schedule just getting tougher.
Entering this weekend DU was coming off a bye-week and before that two straight weekends of one solid win and one solid loss.
This weekend Denver decided to make things more consistent. Whether it was no Brock Trotter or the history of struggling in Mankato or the excitement of the Super Bowl, the Pioneers are facing the reality that they have lost four of their last five games and are suffering through some troubling times.
"It is a bit of a surprise. We are in a place right now that we have got to take small steps out of and it will not come overnight," said sophomore Rhett Rakhshani.
On Friday night the opposition struck first for the third straight time as the Mavericks' Geoff Irwin netted a goal at 11:39 of the first period. DU was held scoreless in the period and on the power play going 0-for-2.
Denver came out with some fire in the second period as Rakhshani scored his ninth goal of the season on a DU power play four minutes into the period off assists from juniors Patrick Mullen and Chris Butler to tie the game. The tie would not last for long, because five minutes later Mankato's Jason Wiley re-directed a shot past senior goalie Peter Mannino. Minnesota State would extend its lead to 3-1 when Andrew Sackrison lit the lamp at 13:12 of the period.
The Pioneers could not get much going in the third period as Ben Youds scored his first career goal and gave the Mavericks a controlling 4-1 lead. Mankato would score one more goal late in the third period and skate to an easy 5-1 victory.
"Friday was a pure lack of effort, they are a different team than we played earlier this season and we didn't show up," said senior captain Andrew Thomas.
The Mavericks five-goal evening was even more impressive since they were 0-for-8 on the power play and all the goals were even strength. Mannino continues to face problems in the net as he has now given up 14 goals in his last three games.
Entering this weekend DU was coming off a bye-week and before that two straight weekends of one solid win and one solid loss.
This weekend Denver decided to make things more consistent. Whether it was no Brock Trotter or the history of struggling in Mankato or the excitement of the Super Bowl, the Pioneers are facing the reality that they have lost four of their last five games and are suffering through some troubling times.
"It is a bit of a surprise. We are in a place right now that we have got to take small steps out of and it will not come overnight," said sophomore Rhett Rakhshani.
On Friday night the opposition struck first for the third straight time as the Mavericks' Geoff Irwin netted a goal at 11:39 of the first period. DU was held scoreless in the period and on the power play going 0-for-2.
Denver came out with some fire in the second period as Rakhshani scored his ninth goal of the season on a DU power play four minutes into the period off assists from juniors Patrick Mullen and Chris Butler to tie the game. The tie would not last for long, because five minutes later Mankato's Jason Wiley re-directed a shot past senior goalie Peter Mannino. Minnesota State would extend its lead to 3-1 when Andrew Sackrison lit the lamp at 13:12 of the period.
The Pioneers could not get much going in the third period as Ben Youds scored his first career goal and gave the Mavericks a controlling 4-1 lead. Mankato would score one more goal late in the third period and skate to an easy 5-1 victory.
"Friday was a pure lack of effort, they are a different team than we played earlier this season and we didn't show up," said senior captain Andrew Thomas.
The Mavericks five-goal evening was even more impressive since they were 0-for-8 on the power play and all the goals were even strength. Mannino continues to face problems in the net as he has now given up 14 goals in his last three games.
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