By Carl Goenner / Sports Director / @carlgoennerpxp / Denver, CO.

-On Saturday, January 24 the St. Cloud State men’s hockey team was shutout 6-0 by the Denver Pioneers.  Defenseman Eric Pohlkamp had two goals in the game while Boston Buckburger had one goal and one assist.  Goaltender Johnny Hicks is credited with the win, finishing with 22 total saves.

St Cloud State had an energetic start and pressured the Pioneers.  The Huskies put quality shots on net and controlled the pace of play for most of the first period.   The Pioneers killed a Husky powerplay after a Samu Salminen penalty.  They built off their success and defender Eric Pohlkamp scored the first goal of the game at the 17:21 mark of the first period.  It didn’t take long for Denver to score again as Boston Buckberger netted another goal with 57 seconds left in the first period.

The Pioneers started fast in the second period and scored roughly one minute in. However, a challenge by St. Cloud State overturned the goal due to the Pioneers being offside on the play.  A Barrett Hall hooking penalty then gave Denver a powerplay just 3:13 into the period.  The Pioneers didn’t squander the opportunity as Eric Pohlkamp netted his second goal of the game, extending the lead to 3.  6 seconds later, Denver’s Rieger Lorenz snuck a puck past Patricks Berzins, giving the Pioneers a 4-0 lead.  As a result of the fourth goal, St. Cloud State pulled starting goaltender Patricks Berzins and replaced him with backup James Gray. 

The Huskies stepped their game up in the third period, but the Pioneers didn’t let up.  Kyle Chyzowski then made it 5-0, Denver just over five minutes into the period.  The Pioneers continued to control the game and Payton Nelson added a sixth goal with six minutes and 22 seconds remaining.  A late penalty on Tyson Gross gave Denver another powerplay and the Huskies held them back,   However, the Denver Pioneers moved on to defeat St. Cloud State 6-0.

Head Coach’s Quote:  “The first 15 minutes were great, we had two open looks and if one of those goes in, you wonder if things could be different.”  “Then (Denver) got those two quick goals and took the momentum from there.”

St. Cloud State will return home to face off against the University of Miami next weekend.  You can catch both of those games live on KVSC.

Photo credit: Bill Prout.