DENVER – Ian Mitchell tied the game with 1:21 left in regulation and Cole Guttman scored the overtime winner as the No. 3 Denver Pioneers (14-4-2, 6-4-0-0) defeated the Omaha Mavericks (6-12-2, 2-7-1-1) for their seventh-consecutive victory on Saturday in Magness Arena.
 
The Pioneers' win came on the backs of its alternate captains as Mitchell's wrist shot from the point pushed the game to overtime and Jarid Lukosevicius' drive to the net left Guttman with the puck on his stick feet from the goal. Denver improved its overtime record to 4-1-2 and secured its 14^th-straight victory against the Mavericks.
 
"Overall I thought it was a really good hockey game, very entertaining," Richard and Kitzia Goodman Head Coach David Carle said. "There was great goaltending on both ends and we're excited that we were on the right side of the outcome. The group has a hunger to win hockey games. I don't think they're scared by moments, the moment doesn't overcome them and I think you've seen that through our overtime play."
Special teams controlled the pace of play as the teams combined for nine power plays with Denver going 1/6 and Omaha going 1/3. 
 
The Pioneers outshot the Mavericks 17-13 in the first period with their best opportunity coming at 11:25 when Colin Staub and Jaakko Heikkinen nearly connected on a two-on-one rush. Less than two minutes after the scoring chance, the Mavericks generated a flurry of action in front of Filip Larsson with back-to-back power plays.

Mason Morelli broke the stalemate at 9:58 of the second, charging into the offensive zone before firing a shot over the shoulder of Filip Larsson. The Mavericks' lead held for less than three minutes before the Pioneers tied the game on the power play. At 12:55 of the period, Staub saucered a pass for Liam Finlay, who put a shot past Evan Weninger to make it 1-1. Staub nearly tallied on Denver's next power play, but Weninger caught a piece of the deflection at the net front and put the puck over the net. Moments later, Emilio Pettersen was whistled for slashing and Zach Jordan scored on the ensuing man advantage to give Omaha a 2-1 lead at the second intermission.
 
The Pioneers nearly made it 2-2 on the power play with 8:50 left in regulation as Pettersen found Stapley for a one-timer from the bottom of the left circle, but defenseman Lukas Buchta slid across and saved the potential game-tying goal with the shaft of his stick. With 1:21 left in regulation, Mitchell tied the game with a shot that deflected off a Mavericks' defenseman on its way to the net. 
 
Filip Larsson finished with 29 saves to improve his record to 6-0-1. Denver outshot Omaha, 42-31.
 
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