DENVER – The No. 1 University of Denver hockey team began its defense of its 2022 national championship on Friday night with a 5-2 victory against the No. 11 Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Magness Arena.
 
Newcomer and senior-transfer Casey Dornbach scored his first two goals as a Pioneer to lead the crimson and gold, while junior McKade Webster and sophomores Jack Devine and Carter Mazur also found the back of the net. Sophomore Owen Ozar contributed two assists for his first career multi-point game, and goaltender Magnus Chrona stopped 18 shots in the victory.
 
"I thought our puck pressure was excellent, I thought we showcased the team speed with all all five guys on the ice," said Richard and Kitzia Goodman hockey head coach David Carle. "I thought out D gaps where good, our reloads were good, and we made it really hard on them. I still think what we will see is growth in our O-zone play and our possession. We had some looks, but I thought that is just going to continue to get crisper. So it's a really exciting starting point."
 
Friday also marked the opening night of the 2022 Ice Breaker Tournament, with Denver and the Air Force Academy co-hosting the premier early-season showcase. The Pioneers will have a chance to win the tournament championship on Saturday night when they host the Maine Black Bears at 6 p.m. MT at Magness Arena; Maine defeated Air Force 4-1 on Friday.
 
DU will be going for its first Ice Breaker championship since winning the third iteration of the tournament in 1999 on home ice.
 
Dornbach tallied the first goal of the year for Denver during a scramble in front at 13:09 of the first period and sealed the game with an empty-netter with 2:54 to play. He's expected to play in his 100th career game on Saturday night.
 
"This is a really special place, and the guys have been more than welcoming," said Dornbach. "The culture here and the group of guys we have this year have made it a lot of fun. I'm just super excited to be here, it was nice to get a win on night one. The crowd was into it, and it was a lot of fun."
 
Notre Dame was twice able to cut its deficit to one goal in the contest, but the Pios responded each time. First, Mazur tallied off a feed from Ozar with 40 seconds left in the second period to make it a 3-1 score and then Webster buried a wrist shot off another Ozar pass to extend the DU advantage to 4-2 at 16:21.
 
The Pioneers outshot the Fighting Irish 27-20 overall and led by a 21-6 margin after the first two periods of play.
 
Denver went 2-for-5 on the power play, while Notre Dame scored on one of its four man-advantage chances.
 
UP NEXT: The Pioneers conclude the Ice Breaker Tournament on Saturday night as they host the Maine Black Bears at 6 p.m. MT at Magness Arena.
 
POSTGAME NOTES

• Senior Casey Dornbach and sophomore Tristan Broz made their Denver debuts.
• Freshmen Kent Anderson, Tristan Lemyre, Rieger Lorenz and Jared Wright skated in their first career collegiate contests.
• Rieger Lorenz recorded his first career point with an assist on Jack Devine's goal in the second period.
• Denver improved 42-25-7 all-time in season openers and now owns a 52-18-4 mark in home openers. DU has won its last five home openers.
• The Pioneers are now 5-3-1 all-time in season-opening games in the campaign after winning a national championship and their first since 1969-70.
• Denver improved to 38-10-6 all-time versus Notre Dame and extended its present unbeaten streak versus the Irish to eight games (6-0-3).
• DU is playing in its fourth Ice Breaker Tournament and is serving as a host of the event for the third time. The Pioneers are now 4-3 all-time in Ice Breaker contests and looking

 
GOAL SUMMARY
1st Period
13:09 DU (1-0) – PPG, Casey Dornbach knocked in a loose puck during a scramble around the goalmouth.
 
2nd Period
7:50 DU (2-0) – PPG, Jack Devine tapped in a centering pass from Rieger Lorenz into an open net
15:58 DU (2-1) – PPG, Ryder Rolston scored with a one-timer from the top of the left circle
19:20 DU (3-1) – Owen Ozar quickly passed the puck to Carter Mazur during a zone entry, and Mazur found twine with a wrister from the top of the left circle.
 
3rd Period
3:00 ND (3-2) – Chase Blackmun tallied from right circle with a wrister after wrapping around the net.
16:21 DU (4-2) – McKade Webster took a pass from Owen Ozar and scored from the slot.
17:06 DU (5-2) – Casey Dornbach skated the length of the ice and deposited the puck into an empty net.
 
QUOTABLES
Head Coach David Carle
On playing Notre Dame to begin the season: "It's great. I mean like we are a young team, and they're an excellent team, they're going to be top-10 tournament team all year. I mean it just all crazy, but it is huge for the pairwise to be able to beat a team like that …. They're going to be an excellent team; I have a lot of respect for Jeff [Jackson} and their program. For our young team, many young forwards, to be able to play on their toes and not be overwhelmed by the moment with the big crowd and their first college game, I thought it was a really good start."
 
On Casey Dornbach scoring twice: "I think one reason why Casey came was the success that Cam [Wright] had and how he integrated. Casey has bought in, he's two-feet-in, has bought into everything we're doing here, so to see him get rewarded is very exciting."
 
Sophomore forward Owen Ozar
How important is it to get this opening win especially against a team like Norte Dame: "I think that it is huge for us, you know Norte Dame is, there a top 10 program so for a first game of the year we looked pretty excellent."
 
On facing Maine on Saturday:  "I think that we just prepare the same. You know, we haven't played Maine yet, I think we will go right into it the same way today"
 
Sophomore Forward Carter Mazur
On how they responded after Notre Dame scores: "I feel like we were hounding them in still, I feel like we played our game the right way. They only had six shots going into the third, so we played really well I thought. They responded so we responded back, and in the end we came out with a win so that huge for us."
 
On his teammate Casey Dornbach: "It's awesome. He's kind of exactly like [Cameron Wright], who we had last year so he fits in that role. He brings a lot to the table, he's a leader on and off, so he fits in really well."
 
Senior forward Casey Dornbach
On the team's depth: "I think we have that for sure. We got a lot of speed, we got a lot of heart and a lot of guys that can make plays at a high pace. We saw that tonight. We had some depth scoring and I am just excited to keep it going and keep building. Coach says this all the time, 'we are not the team we are going to be in two weeks and the team in two weeks is going to be way different in two months.' We are just going to keep going. That's another reason why I wanted to come to Denver, was to surround myself by people who want to be the best and want to be better every day, and so far it's been that, so it's exciting."

Sophomore forward Jack Devine
On being more comfortable in his second year with the program: "I think all that offseason work paid off. I think you got to be confident in yourself, and I know this coaching staff and this team had a really hard training camp. So we got to play with confidence out there and keep it shown off."
 
On being strong defensively: "That was part of our game plan. I know they like to dump pucks in, so when they dump it, try to stick to our defensive game plan. I know at one point we were double in shots, and I think that is definitely the key to success."
 
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