Borgström leads Denver to sweep of Omaha
Freshman Henrik Borgström’s offensive skills led No. 1 Denver to its first-ever Penrose Cup championship. Friday, with the game with Omaha tied 2-2 in the third period, Borgström scored at 2:11 on a five-on-three power play, and then scored again at 9:56. Troy Terry had a goal and two assists, and captain Will Butcher had two assists. Tanner Jaillet made 23 saves. Saturday, Borgström provided the only goal Denver would need with a beautiful toe-drag strike at 15:24 of the second. Emil Romig scored 38 seconds into the third to provide a cushion, and Borgström added an empty-netter at 19:15 of the third to seal the win.Senior Evan Cowley made 28 saves in the win.
Denver will host arch-rival Colorado College in the first round of the NCHC playoffs next weekend.
North Dakota sweep ensures home ice
Entering the weekend, North Dakota was in danger of going on the road in the first round of the playoffs for the first time since 2002. The Fighting Hawks responded with a road sweep of Miami to ensure they will be at home. Even after beating Miami 3-2 Friday on Trevor Olson’s short-handed goal with less than two minutes in the game, North Dakota still needed things to break right, needing at least two points to guarantee fourth place. In the end, with St. Cloud State losing 2-1 to Colorado College and Omaha losing to Denver, North Dakota’s results didn’t matter, but North Dakota defeated Miami 5-2 to ensure their 15-year streak of hosting a first-round conference series, the longest in the NCAA, remained intact. Olson had a goal and assist, and Tucker Poolman scored twice and also had two assists.
North Dakota will face St. Cloud State next weekend. North Dakota went 3-1 against the Huskies this season.
Minnesota Duluth and Western Michigan split
In a series between the no. 2 and no. 3 teams in the conference, a split was fitting. Western Michigan erupted for seven goals in a 7-4 win Friday, Griffen Molino had four assists, Sheldon Dries scored two goals and had an assist, and Hugh McGing had a goal and assist. The next night, Duluth jumped out a 2-0 first-period lead on power-play goals by Adam Johnson and Jared Thomas, gave up two early second-period goals to Matheson Iacopelli and Lawton Courtnal to be tied 2-2, but Johnson scored late to break the tie. Duluth got goals early in the third from Avery Peterson and Joey Anderson to take a 5-2 lead en route to a 6-3 win.
Duluth’s recent trend of poor second-period performances continued, as the Bulldogs were outscored 5-2 on the weekend in the second. In their last five games, the Bulldogs have been outscored 10-3 in the second.
Next weekend, Duluth will host Miami and Western Michigan hosts Omaha.
