An ominous start and, ultimately, an adverse result.

The University of Minnesota Duluth gave up a goal 33 seconds after the opening face off and trailed for all but 70 seconds the rest of the night in a 3-1 setback to the University of Denver in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference opener for both clubs Friday night at AMSOIL Arena.

Following Ty Loney's tally on Denver's first shot of game, the No. 19 Bulldogs (2-3-0 overall) drew even nine minutes later when junior winger Austin Farley,  off a give-and-go with sophomore winger Kyle Osterberg, lifted the puck over Pioneer netminder Evan Cowley from the right side of the crease for his first goal of the season. That deadlock, however, held up for just 1:10 before Denver defenseman Joey LaLeggia's blast from the slot beat UMD rookie Kasimir Kaskisuo. The No. 11 Pioneers (3-0-0) took a 2-1 lead into the break and then Danton Heinen closed out the scoring at 13:53 of the second period after a shot from Will Butcher deflected in off his shin pad.

UMD, which outshot the Pioneers 16-9 in the opening 20 minutes of play and 31-22 on the night, were 1-for-5 on the power play while Denver was 1-for-4. The Bulldogs have now scored at least once with the man advantage in all five games this season.

"We ended the game with five minutes on the power play (following a checking from behind major to Denver's Matt Tabrum) and had some chances," said Farley. "We just couldn't follow through."

Saturday's series finale is set for 7:07 p.m. at AMSOIL Arena. 

Bill Watson's No. 14 jersey was retired during a first-intermission ceremony Friday. Watson, who is third Bulldog to receive this honor (joining former National Hockey League star Brett Hull and the legendary Keith "Huffer" Christiansen), was the 1984-85 recipient of the Hobey Baker Memorial Award and still owns UMD records for career points per game average (1.94) and single-sean marks for assists (60) and multi-point games (36).

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