DENVER – The No. 1 University of Denver hockey team won the 2022 Ice Breaker Tournament championship on Saturday night with a 3-1 victory over the Maine Black Bears at Magness Arena.
 
Carter Mazur led DU (2-0-0) with two goals and an assist, Mike Benning also scored and goaltender Matt Davis made 24-of-25 saves in the win. Casey Dornbach joined his linemate with a multi-point night as well with two assists while skating in his 100th career game. Sean Behrens and Massimo Rizzo also recorded helpers.
 
Denver won its second-ever Ice Breaker Tournament and first since 1999, improving to 5-3 all-time in the college hockey's premier early-season showcase. Denver joined Air Force as co-hosts of this year's Ice Breaker, marking the first time in tournament history that it was played at multiple institutions. DU was hosting for the third time (1999, 2016) and also participated in the 2006 event in Oxford, Ohio.
 
"I think that it is a good starting point," said Richard Kitzia Goodman hockey head coach David Carle of sweeping the opening weekend that began with a 5-2 win over Notre Dame on Friday. "With a lot of question marks coming in with how people are going to fit in and having a little bit of a banged-up lineup too through training camp…. I think that it is really good. Both goalies get a game, both played well. We limited both teams to 20 shots each night, so the D-corps did a really nice job. Neither were picture perfect, but it's games one and two and I think it is a good starting point with what we had coming in. So we're excited about it and excited about it what the team can become."
 
Mazur was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player after finishing with four points (three goals, one assist) in two games, while Davis joined the forward on the All-Tournament Team as well for his effort on Saturday. The only puck to get past Davis was from Donavan Villeneuve-Houle with 39 seconds remaining while Maine had an extra attacker on the ice.
 
DU scored all three of its goals in the first period, with the crimson and gold outshooting the Bears 17-6 in the stanza. Benning got the Pios on the scoreboard first at 6:57 with a wrist shot that went top shelf from the top of the left point before Mazur tallied twice in the final three minutes of the frame.
 
The Denver sophomore knocked in a loose puck at 17:06 near the crease—the eventual game-winner—and then went far-side with a wrist shot from the left circle, placing the puck in a similar position to where Benning put it earlier in the period.
 
The Pioneers outshot the Black Bears 36-25 in the game, but Davis had to be good in the final 40 minutes as the teams were even in shots at 19-19.
 
UP NEXT: Denver heads out east for its first road games of the year, as the Pioneers face the Massachusetts Minutemen on Friday and Saturday in a meeting of the last two national champions.
 
2022 ICE BREAKER TOURNAMENT ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
F – Carter Mazur (Denver) – Most Valuable Player
F – Solag Bakich (Notre Dame)
F – Ben Poisson (Maine)
D – Luke Antonacci (Maine)
D – Brandon Koch (Air Force)
G – Matt Davis (Denver)
 
POSTGAME NOTES

• Freshmen Tyler Haskins and Lucas Olvestad made their collegiate debuts.
• Sophomore Matt Davis made his first start of the season and first since March 5 when he led DU to a regular-season finale victory against Colorado College to help the Pioneers capture the NCHC Penrose Cup.
• Denver and Maine were playing their first games against one another since Oct. 12-13, 2007. The Pioneers have won each of the last three meetings and are now 9-12 all-time in the series.
• DU was playing in its fourth Ice Breaker Tournament and served as a host of the event for the third time. The Pioneers are now 5-3 all-time in Ice Breaker contests.
• Mike Benning recorded his 50th career point.
• Casey Dornbach appeared in his 100th career game.

 
GOAL SUMMARY
1st Period
6:57 DU (1-0) – Mike Benning took a cross-ice pass from Massimo Rizzo and scored with a wrist shot to the top right corner.
17:06 DU (2-0) – Casey Dornbach quickly tapped the puck to Carter Mazur after receiving a feed from Sean Behrens and Mazur smacked in the puck from the left of the crease.
19:29 DU (3-0) – Carter Mazur scored with a wrister from the left circle after taking a pass from Casey Dornbach.
 
2nd Period
No Scoring
 
3rd Period
19:21 Maine (3-1) – Donavan Villeneuve-Houle's shot from the point found twine in traffic while Maine had the goaltender pulled.
 
QUOTABLES
Head Coach David Carle
On starting Matt Davis in goal: "I just think he's earned it, through his play in pre-season, through his play at the end of the year last year. Just an opportunity to get him a start, and we have a lot of faith and trust in him, so he went out and executed well."
 
On winning the Ice Breaker Championship: "We're not going to play back-to-back different opponents until potentially the Frozen Faceoff, so to be able to have that experience is really good. You want your young guys to get a taste of what it's like to win a trophy, and having to close games out,and to do that early I think is good for the confidence of the group, particularly for the new people that are in the room to be a part of that. I think it's a really good thing for us going forward to lean back upon later in the year."
 
Sophomore Forward Carter Mazur
On his two goals: "For the first one, I was just in the right spot at the right time, just a little back door tap from [Casey] Dornbach, which was nice to get that one out of the way. Second one, great pass from Dornbach again and then just pulled it under the D's stick and went far-side."
 
On the team still getting chances late in the game despite not scoring: "I honestly felt like we were still around it, we had a lot of opportunities still, so I feel like it is something we can still build off. It's a good sign that we have the opportunity, we just have to start barring down on those."
 
Sophomore Goaltender Matt Davis
On the game: "I got a lot of pucks from the outside, which is nice. I got to field a lot so that definitely built up my confidence throughout the game. They were a gritty team that likes to throw pucks to the front, so I just had to be ready."
 
On being named to the All-Tournament Team: "It's awesome. I mean I wasn't expecting it. I found out I got the start this morning and was fired up, just hoping to get the win tonight. To have that (all-tournament team honor) as well, it's really awesome."

 
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