Saturday, November 16, 2002

THIRD-RANKED DENVER UPENDS MICHIGAN TECH IN HOCKEY

HOUGHTON, Mich. -- An odd goal put out Michigan Tech's hopes Friday
night at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena as third-ranked Denver downed
the Huskies by a 5-2 count in Western College Hockey Association
action.

After a scoreless first and most of the second period, Denver's Kevin
Doell scored on the power play at 14:57 and DU's Conner James tallied
at 19:50 to give the Pioneers a 2-0 advantage after 40 minutes.

The odd goal of the night came at 8:09 of the third and put DU
solidly ahead. Ryan Caldwell fired the puck from the neutral zone. It
hit the end wall hard, bounced high in the air back over the goal,
hit Tech netminder Cam Ellsworth in the back, and went in the net.

The Huskies' John Hartman cut the DU lead to 3-1 as he tapped one in
from the side of the net at 10:23. Junior Jon Pittis got the final
goal of the game at 18:43 to account for the 5-2 final.

"I thought we actually played a better game tonight than we did last
night," said Tech Head Coach Mike Sertich, "but the score wouldn't
really indicate that. We're going to keep our heads up and keep
plugging away. I like this team and we're making strides."

Cam Ellsworth made 26 saves in the loss, while DU's Adam Berkhoel
gained the victgory with 24 stops.

Tech is at Minnesota next weekend (Nov. 22-23) to conclude an
eight-game stretch against teams all ranked among the nation's top 10.