Box Score DENVER – The No. 3 Denver Pioneers hockey team used five unanswered goals in the second period on Friday night to defeat the Omaha Mavericks 8-4 at Magness Arena.
 
"I thought the biggest development was last weekend when we went up a goal on Friday, we just gave it up right away ,and we were able to put our foot on the gas and get it to 6-2 (tonight)," said Richard and Kitzia Goodman Hockey Head Coach David Carle. "We scored five unanswered, and it was enough to put the game away, so that was really good to see."
 
The teams wrap up their two-game series on Saturday at 6 p.m. MT in Denver. The weekend finale will be broadcasted on NCHC.tv and regionally on Altitude 2.
 
Freshman defenseman Zeev Buium led DU with a career-high three points on one goal and two assists—one of nine players to record multiple points in the outing. Sophomore Rieger Lorenz tallied twice for his first career multi-goal game while Sean Behrens, Shai Buium and Miko Matikka also scored and added an assist. Defenseman Boston Buckberger and forwards Tristan Broz, Carter King and Massimo Rizzo each had a pair of helpers.
 
Seniors Connor Caponi and McKade Webster also scored for Denver, and goaltender Freddie Halyk made 16 saves in his sixth consecutive start to improve his record to 5-1-0 on the season.
 
Omaha led 2-1 after the first period, but each of the Buium brothers scored on a major power play to turn a one-goal deficit into a 3-2 lead and spark the Pioneers' offense. The extended man-advantage came from Matt Miller's penalty for a hit to the head just 22 seconds into the period, and Zeev Buium tallied his third of the season on a shot through traffic 1:35 later.
 
Shai Buium gave DU the lead 2:14 after his younger brother as he found twine on a one-timer from the right circle off a pass from Zeev. Shai also had an assist on Zeev's goal, and the siblings from San Diego, California, are both on career-long, five-game point streaks.
 
Lorenz, Webster and Matikka tallied later in the middle frame to complete the five-goal run in a matter of 12:35, the fastest five markers that DU has scored this year after previously setting the season-high mark in its last game on Nov. 11 at Arizona State (16:40).
 
Lorenz added a second tally at 6:34 in the third period and Caponi scored with 2:12 remaining in regulation.
 
Ray Fust, Ty Mueller and Miller scored for Omaha. Goaltender Simon Latkoczy started in net for the Mavericks and made 27 saves, while Seth Eisele came in relief to begin the third period and stopped seven-of-nine shots.
 
Denver outshot Omaha 41-20 and finished 2-for-6 on the power play.
 
UP NEXT: DU wraps up the two-game series on Saturday against UNO before continuing its season-long, six-game homestand with matchups against Yale on Nov. 24-25 and North Dakota on Dec. 1-2.
 
 
POSTGAME NOTES

• Denver has won three games in a row at home and is unbeaten in its last four contests at Magness Arena (3-0-1).
• DU is now 38-13-5 all-time against UNO and owns a 23-4-2 record at home in the all-time series.
• In addition to the fastest five goals (12:35), DU also scored the fastest four goals (9:33) and six goals of the season (24:37).
• Sean Behrens scored his first goal of the season.
• Miko Matikka stretched his goal streak to four games and point streak to five games (5g/2a)
• Shai Buium's goal and assist pushed his assist streak to four game, tying a career best (previous: Jan. 7-20, 2023) and set a new career-long point streak at five games (1g/4a).
• In addition to his career-high three points, Zeev Buium recorded multiple points in back-to-back games for the first time in his career and is on a personal-high five-game point streak (2g/6a).
• Carter King pushed his career-best point streak to eight games (7g/8a), tying a season high on the team. His personal-best five-game goal streak came to end, which was the longest since Cole Guttman from Dec. 7, 2019 to Jan. 4, 2020.
• Jared Wright is on a five-game point streak and three-game assist streak (3g/3a).

 
 
GOAL SUMMARY
1st Period
5:46 UNO (0-1) – Ray Fust opened the game's scoring with a tally in front.
6:53 DU (1-1) – Sean Behrens scored from an outside shot.
10:17 UNO (1-2) – Ty Mueller skated through the zone and around a DU player before lifting a shot top-shelf.
 
2nd Period
1:57 DU (2-2) – PPG, Zeev Buium's tallied on a major power play from a shot that got through traffic at the top of the slot.
4:11 DU (3-2) – PPG, Shai Buium went top-shelf with a one-timer from the right circle off a pass from Zeev Buium.
6:40 DU (4-2) – Rieger Lorenz scored with a backhand shot down low while turned the opposite direction.
11:30 DU (5-2) – McKade Webster tallied with a wrister from the slot after Massimo Rizzo's shot on a rush rebounded right to him.
14:32 DU (6-2) – Miko Matikka fired a wrister into the net off a drop pass by Carter King.
18:06 UNO (6-3) – Brock Bremer scored from in-close to end DU's run.
 
3rd Period
6:34 DU (7-3) – Rieger Lorenz redirected Boston Buckberger's shot into the net from the right post during 4-on-4 play.
9:10 UNO (7-4) – Matt Miller tallied from the left side.
17:48 DU (8-4) – Connor Caponi scored from the slot after receiving a pass from below the goal line by Boston Buckberger.
 
 
QUOTABLES
Head Coach David Carle
On the depth scoring: "It was great to see. You need it. We play in a format where it is one and done at the end of the year, and you have no idea what line is going to need to step up at a given moment or situation. To have the confidence that any line can go and score at any given moment is huge for a team. There is a lot of confidence to our forward group that anybody can step up and do the job. We are hearing a lot of positive talk on the bench. Guys are really happy for one another. I think it's a great development."
 
On playing a mature style late in games: "I think shots in the third were 9-5 or 8-4. It ends 2-1 on the scoreboard. I thought it was a more mature third period. Did they have a push? Yeah, there's another team out there. They're trying to get back in the game. I thought we absorbed it and then we pushed back. It's a good hockey team over there. They don't make things easy. We had to earn everything tonight. The challenge is trying to do it two nights in a row."
 
Junior Defenseman Sean Behrens
On scoring his first goal: "Yeah, it is always nice to get the first one. Hopefully, they start to go in now, but it is definitely nice to the first."
 
On playing with Zeev Buium: "He is a special player. He skates unbelievably, moves pucks well. His competitiveness is really special. How hard he competes, how he plays with a chip on his shoulder for a small guy I think that is huge for him. He is really fun to play with."
 
On advancing during power play: "Just trying to move pucks well, shoot pucks [towards the goalie]. Just trying and keep it simple up there. Just get pucks in the right spot so the other guy can get it."
 

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