The #3 Denver Pioneers (9-3-1, 5-0-0 NCHC) never trailed, and the result was never in doubt as they trounced the Arizona State Sun Devils (4-8-1, 2-4-1 NCHC), 7-1, at Mullett Arena in Tempe. Eric Pohlkamp opened the scoring three and a half minutes in, and Samu Salminen added another with 10 seconds left in the opener to jump out to a 2-0 lead. Boston Buckberger scored just 26 seconds into the second – just 36 hockey game seconds after Salminen’s goal – to make it 3-0, and the game was effectively over as the Pioneers cruised to the road blowout and passed North Dakota in the NCHC standings to take over 1st place in the early going.
Arizona State scored a power-play goal midway through the second period after Pohlkamp scored his second of the game on the power play to make it a three-goal game, but that was as close as the hosts got to making it a competitive contest the rest of the way. Rieger Lorenz, Kyle Chyzowski (my word, it was a sweet penalty shot goal), and Kristian Epperson rounded out the scoring in the third period to finish off the 7-1 rout.
As sweet as the hockey team’s victory in Tempe was, though, tonight’s story and bandwidth belong with the men’s basketball team, which upset the Colorado State Rams in Fort Collins tonight by a score of 83-81. We will have more to come from that game shortly…
Top photo courtesy of Denver Athletics
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