MINNEAPOLIS — The University of Denver’s lead in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association didn’t last long.
Cade Fairchild had four points to lead the Minnesota Gophers to a 7-3 victory Saturday night over the fourth- ranked Pioneers in front of a crowd of 9,917 at Mariucci Arena.
DU had taken sole possession of the WCHA lead after Friday night’s 2-1 victory. North Dakota is now in the league lead after a 3-1 win over Alaska-Anchorage.
Fairchild had a goal and three assists for the Gophers (12-12-4, 9-10-3).
Minnesota took charge early, scoring three times in the first 12 minutes of the game and adding three more goals in the second period. The Gophers kept up the pressure all game, outshooting Denver 44-34.
“Minnesota was terrific, right from the beginning,” Denver coach George Gwozdecky said. “Certainly you could see some desperation in their game. They wanted it in the worst way, for a number of reasons. We just didn’t have that same level of urgency, and they executed well.”
Jacob Cepis and Taylor Mattson netted the first two goals less than a minute apart against DU freshman goalie Sam Brittain. Cepis scored at 7:22 of the first, Mattson at 8:18.
After Erik Haula scored 33 seconds into the second period for a 4-0 lead, Denver (18-7-5, 14-5-3) pulled Brittain and inserted Adam Murray, who gave up the last two goals of the period. They combined for 30 saves.
Mike Hoeffel, Nick Bjugstad and Patrick White also scored for Minnesota. Haula added two assists.
Kent Patterson had 28 saves for the Gophers.
Beau Bennett, Chris Knowlton and John Lee scored for the Pioneers.
The seven goals were the most scored by Minnesota against Denver since an 8-5 win in the 2002-03 season.
Denver’s Jon Cook received a game misconduct for checking from behind in the second period, and Minnesota’s Jake Hansen and Denver’s David Makowski got match penalties for a fight in the third period.
John Shipley of the St. Paul Pioneer Press contributed to this report.
