DENVER – The No. 11 University of Denver hockey team continues its season-long, four-game homestand on Friday and Saturday as the Pioneers face the Miami RedHawks in a pair of contests at Magness Arena.
Friday's game begins at 7 p.m. MT and will be broadcasted on Altitude 2 and NCHC.tv, while Saturday's contest will be available on Altitude Sports and NCHC.tv. Both games came be heard on ESPN Radio Denver 1600 AM or at DenverPioneers.com.
The Pioneers (6-4-0, 2-2-0 NCHC) picked up their third series sweep of the season last weekend after defeating then-No. 9 Western Michigan 5-3 on Friday and 5-2 on Saturday. DU erased 2-1 deficits after the first period in each game and went on to score three times in the second period on Friday and four times in the middle frame on Saturday.
Goaltender
Magnus Chrona stopped 19 and 25 shots, respectively, while forward
Carter Savoie led the Pios with four goals and an assist in the two contests. Freshman
Carter Mazur recorded four points (2g/2a) over the weekend, including a career-high three points on Friday.
On Monday, Savoie was named the NCHC Forward of the Week for the second time this season while Mazur picked up honors as the NCHC Rookie of the Week.
Miami has a 2-7-1 overall record and is 1-3-0 in NCHC play this season. The RedHawks fell 4-1 against North Dakota last Friday and 5-4 on Saturday to the Fighting Hawks on home ice. Miami is making its first trip to Denver since Feb. 21-22, 2020, with DU picking up 7-3 and 7-0 wins, respectively.
The teams only met twice last season, with both matchups coming in the NCHC Pod in Omaha, Nebraska. Denver won 5-1 on Dec. 10 before losing 3-0 a week later on Dec. 17.
DU will also be celebrating Family Weekend, as well as Alumni Weekend at Magness Arena during its series versus Miami.
TEDDY BEAR TOSS ON SATURDAY: University of Denver Athletics, in partnership with CBS4, begins its annual Together 4 Colorado Toy Drive on Saturday night with its Fifth Annual Teddy Bear Toss during the second intermission. The Teddy Bear Toss kicks off a nearly month long event to give fans the opportunity to bring a new and unwrapped gift to any DU athletic event between Nov. 20 and Dec. 18 to benefit the Boys and Girls Club of Metro Denver. Denver Cheerleading will also host its Shop-N-Drop event at the Ritchie Center Circle on Saturday, Dec. 4 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
HISTORIC HOME START: Denver is undefeated on home ice this season at 5-0-0, marking
the first time ever that the Pioneers have won each of their first five games at Magness Arena (the building opened prior to the start of the 1999-00 season). DU is off to its best home start since going 4-0-1 to begin 2019-20, and it's the first time that Denver has started 5-0-0 at home since 1995-96. The Pios are 12-2-0 in their last 14 home games and have a 22-6-1 record on campus dating back to the start of the 2019-20 season. The last time DU started 6-0-0 at home was in 1977-78 (began 7-0-0).
FACING MIAMI: DU enters its third week of conference play by facing Miami University in the first two of four meetings this season. Denver is 6-1-0 in the last seven meetings vs. Miami, which includes a current three-game winning streak on home ice. In the all-time series, the Pios sport a 20-13-3 record and are 9-5-3 at home against Miami. Since becoming conference foes in the NCHC in 2013-14, DU is 15-8-3 and 7-2-1 in the last 10 matchups.
TWO IN :20: Carter Savoie scored twice in a matter of 20 seconds late in the second period on Saturday vs. Western Michigan to unknot a 2-2 tie and break open the game for the Pioneers. Savoie's two scores came on the same shift and marked the third-fastest consecutive goals by the same Denver player in the last 20 years.
Jack Doremus tallied twice in 17 seconds on Feb. 23, 2019 vs. Miami, while Jarid Lukosevicius scored two times in 16 seconds during the 2017 NCAA National Championship vs. Minnesota Duluth. Savoie's markers were also the fastest two goals scored by Denver this season, regardless of the player, as
Carter Mazur (14:23 on power play) and
Bobby Brink (14:58) connected in a matter of 35 seconds on Oct. 8 vs. Arizona State (second period).
Savoie, who leads Denver with 17 points (10g/7a), is fourth in the nation and second in the NCHC at 1.67 points per game, with only Omaha's Taylor Ward (1.73) having a better average in the conference.
DOMINANT AT THE DOT: Senior captain
Cole Guttman leads the Pioneers at the faceoff circle, winning 57.4 percent of his draws this season. He tied his career high with 19 faceoff wins on Saturday vs. Western Michigan and has won 14 or more faceoffs in five games this season. Guttman has won 50 percent or more of his draws in nine of the 10 contests this year, including in each of the first seven games.
BUZZER BEATER: Cameron Wright scored in the final second of the second period, marking just the sixth time since 2000-01 that the Pioneers have scored at 19:59 of a period. Jason Zucker was the last Pio to tally in the final second of a stanza, doing so at the end of the first period on March 27, 2011 vs. North Dakota in the NCAA Quarterfinals.
LIMITING CHANCES: Denver has held opponents to 30 or fewer shots in nine games this season and 33 or less in all 10 contests of 2021-22. DU is outshooting opposing squads by an average of 37.3 to 24.8.
TICKETS: Single-game tickets for the 2021-22 campaign are on sale now and can be purchased here.
CORONAVIRUS UPDATES: Masks are required at all indoor athletic events. For the latest University of Denver updates on the coronavirus, click here.
DONATE: Fans interested in making a donation to the Pioneers Athletic Fund can do so by clicking here. Your gift will transform the lives of our student-athletes by giving them the first-class resources needed to excel in the classroom and beyond. Thank you for Building Pioneers for Life!
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