Denver Cup Day One
Shore's hat trick paces a lackluster performance by the Pios.
Drew Shore scored his first career hat trick and the #12 Pios beat the Lake Superior State Lakers 6-3 to extend their winning streak to five games. However the Pioneers continued a disturbing trend of playing to the level of their opponent. Much like the previous two weekends the Pios came out flat against a team it should beat. Sloppy defensive play coupled with few scoring chances has been the Pioneers' MO early in games. The Pioneers were lucky to leave the first period with a 1-0 lead as the Lakers outplayed them and the tying goal was waved off as the horn sounded a split second before it rattled the cage.
The good news is that all four lines are starting to score and the Pios are finishing games like a top 10 team. Senior captain Kyle Ostrow put the Pios on top in the 1st with great stickwork down low to beat the goalie and two other Lakers, Dustin Jackson scored his first goal of the season and Beau Bennett is starting to show flashes of talent with a great wrist shot in the second. The Shore, Zucker, Salazer line continues to lead the way for the Pios and opponents will need to focus on shutting down this trio to stop the Pioneers.
Denver Cup Day Two
Pioneers win the Denver Cup with impressive performance 3-1 victory.
Though the Pioneers got off to an early 1-0 lead on a Dustin Jackson goal, they looked like the same slow-starting team from the past few weeks - the Pioneers were outshot 16-6 in the first period. However, the Pios jumped on the Falcons posting a 33-9 shots advantage the last two periods and could have easily won the game by five or six goals. Falcon freshman goalie Jason Torf kept his team in contention with a spectacular performance. On one series, tournament MVP Drew Shore had an open net from 15 feet out, but Torf made a diving mid-air stick save to prevent the goal. Fellow freshman Beau Bennett (forward) and David Makowski (defense) are starting to find their way.
Bennett scored his second goal in as many nights and now has 5 pts (2 goals, 3 assists) in his last three games, while Makowski added a helper and now has 9 pts (3 goals, 6 assists) in his last six games. However the story of the weekend was sophomore Drew Shore. He had a hand in 6 of the 9 goals on the weekend (4 goals, 2 assists) to garner MVP honors and now stands 3rd in the country in scoring with 12 goals, 10 assists in 16 games. Makowski, Jackson, Shore, and goalie Sam Brittain were named to the All Tournament team.
Next weekend brings a huge road test to the Pioneers as they travel to Duluth to play the #1 ranked Bulldogs.