With five minutes left in regulation, and the score tied 8-8, it looked like Notre Dame's undefeated season might be in jeopardy. Denver had just netted two straight goals, including one man-down score, and the crowd at Invesco Field was ready for their team to spoil Notre Dame's perfect start.
The Irish, though, had other ideas.
Senior attack Duncan Swezey's third goal of the game broke the tie with 2:08 left in regulation, and sophomore midfield David Earl sealed the deal with another goal with 1:02 to give the No. 4 Irish (10-0, 3-0 GWLL) the win in the sixth annual Rocky Mountain Showdown.
"We just made plays," Irish coach Kevin Corrigan said of the dramatic finish. "We won a couple faceoffs, and we just had guys make some plays. The most important thing was winning the faceoffs so we had possession of the ball."
Corrigan said Swezey's goal, especially, was the result of individual players taking the game into their hands.
"For Duncan's goal, in all honesty, Pete Christman did a great job," Corrigan said. "He threw a triple team and got the ball to Neal Hicks who made a very difficult catch and throw to Duncan who then made a great move and a great shot to finish it off. So there were three guys that made outstanding plays."
The Pioneers (6-6, 1-2 GWLL) opened the scoring 12:55 into the game, with a goal by Andrew Lay. The Irish responded, though, with four straight goals to claim the lead. Junior midfield Grant Krebs and sophomore midfield Zach Brenneman scored in the opening stanza to give the Irish a 2-1 lead after one quarter, and two goals from Swezey extended the Notre Dame lead to three.
After Denver's Todd Baxter cut the lead to 4-2, Brenneman found the back of the net again to restore the three-goal cushion.
Another goal from Lay cut the lead back to two, but senior attack Ryan Hoff scored for the Irish just 22 seconds later.
With three minutes left in the first half, Krebs scored again to push the lead to 7-3. The Pioneers, though, refused to go quietly, and two goals from Ben Wahler and Mark Matthews cut the lead to 7-5 at halftime.
Denver continued its comeback attempt in the third quarter, as Matthews' second goal of the game was the only scoring in the period.
The Irish appeared to be in the clear when junior midfield Kelly McKenna scored on a feed from Earl to make the score 8-6, but Denver's back-to-back goals tied the score and set the stage for Swezey's game-winner.
While Corrigan said he was pleased with his team's effort, he wasn't happy with the Irish defense in certain situations, such as man-down or directly off a faceoff.
"We gave up a lot of goals in a lot of different ways," he said. "And that was disappointing because I think we can do better than that. But our 6-on-6 defense was very solid. We just need to do a better job managing the game."
Senior goalie Scott Rodgers made 15 saves on the afternoon to push his record to 10-0 on the season as well.
On the offensive side of the ball, the Irish continued to spread the ball around and create chances for multiple players. This time, it was Swezey who ended up with the hat trick, but six other Irish players have also done so this season.
"I think the best thing we've done offensively throughout the year is share the load,"?Corrigan said. "We've got a lot of people contributing and that does make us hard to scout I think."
Duke's upset win over Virginia Saturday meant that Notre Dame is now the only undefeated team remaining in Division I. Corrigan, though, was quick to dismiss any significance.
"It won't matter if we lose the next three, so we're going to stay focused on trying to beat Quinnipiac on Saturday."
The Irish will face the Bobcats next Saturday in Hamden, Conn.
