ST. PAUL, Minn. — Little Anthony Maiani on Friday put the University of Denver in tonight’s big-time environment at the Xcel Energy Center.
The speedy 5-foot-7, 155-pound freshman winger scored with 1:20 left in regulation to break a 1-1 tie and lift the Pioneers to a 3-1 upset victory against North Dakota in the semifinals of the WCHA Final Five.
Maiani’s second straight game-winning goal was a beautiful, unassisted scoring sequence that began in the defensive end before the second-biggest matinee semifinal crowd in the history of the tournament (16,768). He collected an errant Fighting Sioux pass in front of DU goalie Peter Mannino and skated 175 feet before lifting a backhander from the right circle inside the far post of sprawling North Dakota goalie J.P. Lamoureux.
En route to the net, Maiani drove past Sioux defenseman Joe Finley, who at 6-7, 245 pounds is the WCHA’s biggest player. In this matchup — long after the Pioneers killed off two 5-on-3 disadvantages — the little guy won.
“I knew he was slow, so I tried to go wide and get the puck down deep,” Maiani said.
He added that luck played a big part, and that he didn’t intend for the puck to come off his stick so hard and land top-shelf inside the far post.
“I just wanted to get it on net and go after the change,” he said.
Said North Dakota coach Dave Hakstol: “I think Joe got a little flat-footed.”
Sophomore Matt Glasser added an empty-net goal with six seconds to go and DU improved to 5-0 in Final Five games at the Xcel Energy Center. The Pioneers (25-13-1) failed to advance to the Final Five the past two years, but captured the Broadmoor Trophy in 2002 and 2005. They will try to extend their record 15 WCHA titles against Minnesota in tonight’s league finale (6 p.m. MDT, FSN). The Gophers edged the Tigers on Friday 2-1 in OT.
Maiani shared hero honors for the second straight game with Mannino, who finished with 32 saves. In last Saturday’s 1-0 win that capped a three-game playoff series victory over Minnesota-Duluth, Maiani had the goal and Mannino the shutout.
DU has now won three straight playoff games after losing its final three regular-season contests. The Sioux (25-10-4) have lost two of their last three games since ending a school-record 18-game unbeaten streak.
DU’s Rhett Rakhshani scored the game’s first goal with a power-play wrist shot from the left circle at 5:58 of the second period.
Denver 0 1 2 — 3
North Dakota 0 0 1 — 1
First period — None. Penalties — Glasser, DU (boarding), 1:57; Butler, DU (hooking), 2:32; LaPoint, UND (holding), 9:30; Bozak, DU (hooking), 18:39; Genoway, UND (unsportsmanlike conduct), 19:01; Thomas, DU (unsportsmanlike), 19:01; Butler, DU (unsportsmanlike), 19:01; Oshie, UND (unsportsmanlike), 19:01; Mannino, DU (unsportsmanlike), 19:01; VandeVelde, UND (unsportsmanlike), 19:01; Mannino, DU (slashing), 19:01.
Second period — 1, Denver, Rakhshani 14 (Mullen, Bozak), 5:58 (pp). Penalties — Finley, UND (slashing), 4:50; Chorney, UND (slashing), 15:42; Finley, UND (slashing), 18:45.
Third period — 2, North Dakota, Chorney 3 (Zajac, Marto), 6:16. 3, Denver, Maiani 7 (unassisted), 18:40. 4, Denver, Glasser 6 (Ruegsegger), 19:54 (en). Penalties — none.
Shots — DU 11-8-11 — 30. UND 12-6-15 — 33. Power plays — DU 1 of 4. UND 0 of 4. Goalies — DU, Mannino (23-13-1) 33 shots-32 saves. UND, Lamoureux (24-9-4) 29-27. A — 16,768.
Mike Chambers: 303-954-1357 or mchambers@denverpost.com
