Box Score Box Score

DENVER, Colo. – The UNO Mavericks fought back from a two-goal deficit in the third period, but Denver poured in three more goals to pull away for a 7-4 win on Friday night at Magness Arena.

The Mavericks fell to 13-9-1 overall and 9-5-1 in the WCHA.  With the win, the Pioneers tied the Mavericks for first in the WCHA.  They are now 13-6-3 overall and 8-4-3 in the league.

Trailing 4-2 entering the final period, Brent Gwidt gave the Mavs life by poking in the rebound of a shot by Zahn Raubenheimer for a shorthanded goal just 25 seconds in.  The Mavericks have now scored a shorthanded goal in three straight games.

Ryan Walters then tied the game when he hammered home a backdoor pass from Matt White at 12:19.  It was his team-leading 14th goal of the season.

But Denver rallied, getting two goals from Zac Larraza just 1:56 apart to take a 6-4 lead.

UNO had a late power play and pulled goalie John Faulkner for an extra attacker, but Matt Tabrum found the empty net with 2.7 seconds remaining to finish the scoring.

The game started poorly for the Mavericks who got flagged for an early penalty for too many men on the ice.  The Pioneers cashed in on their only shot on the ensuing power play when Nolan Zajac set up David Makowski with a cross-crease pass at 2:29.

Then with the Mavs on their first power play, Denver struck again.  Scott Mayfield took a loose puck and fed it up ice to Tabrum who sped in on a breakaway, beating Faulkner with a backhander.  It was DU's first shorthanded goal of the season.

UNO got on the board at 3:57 of the second when Josh Archibald finished off a 2-on-1, firing in a pass from Walters for his 12th goal of the year.

The Pioneers struck back just 14 seconds later when Quentin Shore got free and snapped a low shot past Faulkner to make it 3-1.

Late in the period, UNO got a power play and cashed in quickly as Andrej Sustr, stationed in front of the DU net, tipped in a blast from White for his sixth goal of the season.

But again, the Pioneers responded before the break.  Shawn Ostrow knocked in his own rebound off a feed from Larraza to make it 4-2 after two.

UNO outshot the Pioneers 42-22 but too often were met by goaltender Juho Olkinuora who made a season high 38 saves.  Faulkner suffered the loss with 15 saves.

The Mavericks fell to 0-8-1 all-time in Denver and 3-12-1 in the all-time series.  The two teams finish the series on Saturday night at 8:07 p.m. CT.