Pioneers make an opening statement, rout Penn State

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Posted By: MayhemAdmin March 25, 2018

So you want to play it fast and loose against Denver? Try it at your own risk.

The fourth-ranked Pioneers held down Penn State’s high-powered offense in a 5-1 victory on Saturday night in an NCAA Tournament Midwest Regional opener at Allentown, Pa.

Jarid Lukosevicius scored two goals, and his linemates – Troy Terry (goal, two assists) and Henrik Borgström (goal, assist) – also found the scoresheet while defenseman Ian Mitchell had three assists for DU. The Pioneers will play Ohio State for the regional title Sunday at 4:30 p.m. In the process, the Pioneers improved to 12-1-2 vs. teams in the tournament.

It marked the second time in two seasons the Pioneers eliminated the Nittany Lions from the tournament. DU won 6-3 in the Midwest Regional final last season to earn its second trip in a row to the Frozen Four.

Tanner Jaillet made 26 saves for Denver (23-9-8), which outshot the national leader in shots on goal by a 41-27 margin. In the process he tied the program record, held by DU Athletic Director Ron Grahame, for career wins with his 81st.

Only Liam Folkes‘ shot 7:39 into the third dented Jaillet, but Lukosevicius restored a four-goal edge that DU had carried into the final period less than 5 minutes later with his second consecutive goal of the game and 21st of the season.

The Pioneers put the Nittany Lions (18-15-5) on their heels right away. DU twice scored goals that were set up from below the goal line in the first period, when they built a 17-9 shots on goal edge.

Freshman Kohen Olischefski finished a backhand pass from Liam Finlay 7:41 in. Finlay skated to the left of Penn State goaltender Peyton Jones‘ cage and dropped a backhand pass to Olischefski.

Terry then went to work, burying a patient pass from Dylan Gambrell, stationed below the goal line to Jones’ left with 3:20 left. The goal came during a delayed penalty call and the Pioneers with a sixth attacker on the ice.


“Penn State is an explosive hockey team, and I thought in the first period we really neutralized their transition game because of our commitment to playing on the right side of the puck,” DU coach Jim Montgomery said. “To me that goes to our leaders and the guys who have been here before.”

Denver made it 3-0 just 4:51 into the second on a beautiful transition play. Mitchell got the puck out of the DU zone to Terry, who was on the move in the neutral zone. Terry carried it into the Penn State zone and found Borgström with a step on a Nittany Lions defender. The sophomore caught and dragged the puck to create space, then released a laser.

Lukosevicius tipped a Mitchell blast from the blue line with 2 seconds left in the second to all but decide the outcome in a game Denver’s defensive commitment was obvious.

“We pride ourselves in our good defense,” captain Tariq Hammond said. “We kept disciplined with our F3 in the defensive zone. The forwards were working hard back checking, not giving them many opportunities. That was our game plan. We executed it really well.”

Notable

Sophomore Tyson McLellan returned to the Pioneers’ lineup on a line with senior Rudy Junda and freshman Jaakko Heikkinen. McLellan, typically a center,  started at right wing.

Denver’s three stars

  1. Troy Terry. The junior continued his torrid playoff play, scoring what proved to be the game-winner and setting up two more goals.
  2. Tanner Jaillet. The senior made 26 saves and tied the program record for career victories.
  3. Jarid Lukosevicius. Go to the net, score. Repeat. Two goals for the junior, who also was a team-high plus-3.

Up next

Denver will play Ohio State for the Midwest Regional title at 4:30 p.m. MDT on Sunday. ESPNU will televise the game.

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