DENVER — Tyler Ruegsegger's goal early in the final period was one of three by the second-ranked Denver Pioneers, who posted a 3-1 win over the Minnesota Gophers on Friday.
Ruegsegger and Colborne broke open a scoreless tie in the third period for Denver (19-6-4, 13-4-4 WCHA). Ruegsegger scored on a rush just 55 seconds into the period. Colborne added insurance by beating Gophers' goalie Alex Kangas of Rochester short side at 11:37.
Rhett Rakhshani added a spinning goal 17 seconds after Patrick White pulled the Gophers (13-14-2, 8-11-2) within a goal at 18:22.
Denver moved ahead of idle Minnesota-Duluth into second place in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, one point behind St. Cloud State.
Minnesota dropped to 1-13-2 when allowing three or more goals.
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Ruegsegger opened the scoring when he took a breakout pass and skated the length of the ice, around the defense and across the goal crease to beat Kangas, who made 28 saves for the Gophers.
Denver goalie Marc Cheverie, who got credit for an assist on Ruegsegger's goal, made 44 saves. Minnesota outshot Denver 45-31.
"I've had a lot of luck against Minnesota," Cheverie said. "It's never easy playing a team like that."
Cheverie had a shutout streak of 238 minutes, 20 seconds against the Gophers snapped by White's late goal.
"The difference was their ones beat our ones in the third period," Minnesota coach Don Lucia said. "All three of their guys scored goals. Obviously their goaltender made some big saves when he had to."
Gopher women tie
The No. 2 University of Minnesota women's hockey team scored a goal at 5:02 in the third period and tied St. Cloud State, 2-2, but lost the shootout on Friday at Ridder Arena.
With the tie, the Gophers remain two points ahead of Minnesota Duluth, while Wisconsin and St. Cloud State are tied for third with 27 points. Minnesota lost its first shootout of the season after three consecutive wins this year.
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Rochester's Katie Frischmann scored her second goal of the season at 5:02 in the third to push the game into overtime and the eventual tie. Frischmann scored when she put a shot on from the left circle as Nikki Ludwigson and Kelly Seeler assisted on the play.
The Gophers are 21-5-5 overall and 17-4-4 in conference play. Co-captain Brittany Francis put the Gophers up, 1-0 when she scored at 9:38 in the first period.
