Neal Pionk, who figured in on three of the University of Minnesota Duluth's six goals in a two-game series split at the University of Denver this past weekend, has been chosen the National Collegiate Hockey Conference Defenseman of the Week.

Pionk, a sophomore from Hermantown, Minn., assisted on UMD's second goal in Friday's opener (a 4-3 setback) and then helped set up a pair of scores the following evening as the Bulldogs prevailed 3-1 over the No. 2 Pioneers. For the weekend, he racked up three points and blocked six shots -- both UMD bests -- while going a +2. 

Seven different Bulldogs have been bestowed with NCHC weekly award thus far in 2016-17, but Pionk is the only one to do it twice. On Oct. 10, following the University of Massachusetts-Lowell series, he was cited as the NCHC Defenseman of the Week. This also marks the fourth time Pionk has been so honored by the NCHC (he was the Defenseman of the Week on Oct. 26, 2015 and Rookie of the Week on March 7, 2016)