The 2012 Battle for the Gold Pan could return to the possession of the Colorado College Tigers for the first time in three years. On Friday night, the Tigers defeated the Denver Pioneers, 2-0, to take a 2-1 lead in the series. Game 4 takes place on Saturday night at 7:07 p.m. MT. The game will shift from Magness Arena to CC's World Arena.
The Pioneers need a win to split the series and keep the Gold Pan for another year, which they failed to do on Friday night. The Tigers' Jaden Schwartz opened the scoring with a power play goal at 11:48 in the opening period, providing him with his ninth goal of the season. His brother, Rylan Schwartz, and Gabe Guentzel assisted on the play. David Civitarese tallied an empty-net goal with 50 seconds left in the game to make it 2-0.
The Pioneers were able to get 29 shots on net against Josh Thorimbert, but Jason Zucker, the Shore Bros., Drew and Nick, and the rest were unable to put anything past the netminder. Ty Loney's suspension also cooled down the offense, as he had six goals and 12 points in the last seven games.
Goalie Sam Brittain made his second start in net since returning from knee surgery last June. He stopped 33 of 35 shots. However, it is doubtful that he will play on Saturday night. Juho Olkinuora or Adam Murray could expect to play.
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