DENVER – The No. 11 University of Denver hockey team takes on the Air Force Academy this weekend in a home-and-home set. The Pioneers face the Falcons at Cadet Ice Arena on Friday at 7 p.m. MT before the series shifts to Magness Arena on Saturday for a 7 p.m. start.
Denver is coming off a series sweep against the Arizona State Sun Devils on opening weekend, winning 8-3 on Friday and earning a 4-3 comeback victory on Saturday. Air Force is 1-1-0 on the new year after splitting last week at Michigan State, winning 3-2 in overtime on Friday before falling 5-1 on Saturday.
The Pioneers and Falcons have met 43 times previously, with DU holding a 38-4-1 all-time record in the series and having won each of the past four matchups. The teams last met on Oct. 12, 2018 with Denver winning 4-1 at the Academy as Emilo Pettersen recorded three points (one goal, two assists) and Jarid Lukosevicius picked up a pair of helpers. The Pioneers are 11-1-1 in the last 13 meetings against the Falcons.
The last time DU and Air Force played a home-and-home set was during the 2015-16 campaign. The Falcons won 5-4 in overtime on Oct. 9 before the Pios responded with a 3-1 victory the next night at home.
Freshman
Massimo Rizzo (three goals, one assist), junior
Bobby Brink (two goals, two assists) and sophomore
Carter Savoie (one goal, three assists) lead the Pioneers in scoring with four points each. Rizzo was named the NCHC's co-Rookie of the Week on Monday as his three goals are tied for second in the nation while he ranks tied for first in the country in goals per game (1.5).
DU junior goaltender
Magnus Chrona started both contests last week and is expected to play in at least one outing against the Falcons. Freshman
Matt Davis made his NCAA debut last Friday, playing late in the third period.
At Saturday's game, Denver will honor its Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2020, which includes 12 members and features former hockey head coach George Gwozdecky. The induction ceremony will take place on Friday on campus.
THREE THINGS
Massi-Goals:
Massimo Rizzo became just the third Denver freshmen in the last 21 years (since 2000-01) to score in his first two NCAA games, joining Patrick Wiercioch (2008) and current sophomore teammate
Carter Savoie, who had a freshman-record five-game goal streak to open the 2020-21 campaign.
Freshmen Impact: All seven incoming freshmen and senior transfer
Cameron Wright all made their DU debuts last weekend. Rizzo recorded back-to-back multi-point games, while
Carter Mazur tallied twice on opening night.
Jack Devine (three assists) and
Sean Behrens (two assists) recorded their first collegiate points, while Wright picked up his first point as a Pio with an assist on Saturday.
Bringing The Offense: Denver is tied for the second-highest scoring offense in the country after the first two weeks of the NCAA season, averaging 6.0 goals per game. Only Michigan is averaging more at 6.5 goals per contest. The Pioneers outshot ASU by a combined 96-42 over the two games, which included by a 55-25 margin last Friday. The 55 shots on goal were DU's most since it had also had 55 against Miami on Feb. 21, 2020.
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