DENVER – The No. 3 Denver Pioneers hockey team lost 4-3 to the Omaha Mavericks on Sunday afternoon at Magness Arena in a continuation of a game from the previous night.
 
DU (8-3-1, 3-1-0 NCHC) finished with a series split over UNO (6-3-1, 2-2-0 NCHC) after Saturday's game was delayed. Ice conditions prior to the second period forced the suspension of the game and was scheduled to resume on Sunday at 2 p.m. MT. The Pioneers won 8-4 on Friday night in the opener.
 
The score was 0-0 at the time of the pause and the contest restarted with the beginning of the second period on Sunday afternoon.
 
"We tried to treat it like a game three in a series," said Richard and Kitzia Goodman Hockey Head Coach David Carle. "I mean we got a regular cool down last night. We had a meal available to them this morning. We tried to keep everything as normal as we could for them, and obviously treat this as a two-period hockey game."
 
Sophomore Rieger Lorenz tallied a short-handed goal for the Pioneers while Jared Wright and Miko Matikka also found the back of the net. Denver goaltender Freddie Halyk made 15 saves.
 
Wright and Lorenz scored on breakaways in the second period to even the game at 2-2 after the Mavericks tallied the first two goals of the outing. UNO then pulled ahead in the final two-plus minutes as Tanner Ludtke buried a go-ahead marker at 17:57 of the period and Joaquim Lemay recorded the eventual game-winner with three seconds remaining in the frame.
 
Matikka tallied for a fifth consecutive game 2:09 in the third period after skating past two Omaha defenders and placing the puck past the stretched pad of Mavs goalie Simon Latkoczky to get DU within one on the scoreboard, but the team couldn't tie the game again despite outshooting UNO 10-1 in the final stanza.
 
Denver finished with a 26-19 edge in shots on goal.
 
The squads meet again on Jan. 19-20 in Omaha for two games to wrap up their season series.
 
UP NEXT: Denver continues its season-long, six-game homestand next weekend with a two-game series against Yale on Friday and Saturday before hosting No. 2 North Dakota on Dec. 1-2.
 
 
POSTGAME NOTES

• The Pioneers had their three-game winning streak and four-game unbeaten streak at home end.
• Rieger Lorenz scored his first short-handed goal of his career.
• Denver leads the country with five short-handed goals this season.
• Miko Matikka tallied for a fifth straight game, tying a season high for DU. He is also on a six-game point streak (6g/2a).
• Zeev Buium stretched his personal-best point streak to six games (2g/7a).
• Carter King had an assist and is on a career-long nine game point streak (8g/9a) the longest of the season on the team.
• Jared Wright is on a six-game point streak (4g/3a), the longest of his career.

 
GOAL SUMMARY
1st Period (Saturday)
No Scoring
 
2nd Period (Sunday)
1:18 UNO (0-1) – Matt Miler tallied with a wrister in front after taking a pass from the left side by Jimmy Glynn.
4:42 UNO (0-2) – Ty Mueller scored on a quick shot in the low slot.
10:23 DU (1-2) – Jared Wright took a pass from Carter King on a rush and scored top-shelf on a breakaway.
15:41 DU (2-2) – SHG, Rieger Lorenz grabbed a loose puck at his own blue line and hit iron and twine on a one-on-one chance.
17:57 UNO (2-3) – Tanner Ludtke scored on a wrist shot from the top of the right circle
19:57 UNO (2-4) – Joaquim Lemay knocked in a loose puck at the top of the crease off a rebound.
 
3rd Period (Sunday)
2:09 DU (3-4) – Miko Matikka took a chip pass from Tristan Broz in the neutral zone, skated past two Omaha defenders and tuck the puck past the stretched left pad of the Mavs goalie.
 
 
QUOTABLES
Richard and Kitzia Goodman Hockey Head Coach David Carle
On adjusting to Omaha's game plan:
"I think the puck needs to move quickly. We tried to spread them out in the offensive zone and do things from there."
 
On the second period:
"I thought the whole team struggled in the second period. We didn't win enough battles. They [Omaha] looked fresher. They looked more on their toes. They looked more engaged, and I think that resulted in their team looking better than us, and our whole team looking a little bit slow and on our heels, especially to start the period and end the period."
 
On the penalty kill and short-handed goal by Rieger Lorenz: "It was good puck pressure on entry by [Carter] King and [Rieger] Lorenz. He was springing for the breakaway chance and to be able to finish it was excellent. Rieger has turned himself into an excellent penalty killer for us and continues to build this game."
 
Senior Captain McKade Webster
On playing one game over the course of two days: "It is difficult. Just kind of out of our control what happened last night with the ice. I mean there are really no excuses on getting refocused; they were just hungrier and out worked us today."
 
On getting into a routine from Saturday to Sunday: "Recovery, getting out in the weight room, [and] getting flushed. Taking care of your body. Getting a good night sleep and then coming to the rink and getting a good meal before. Just treating it like a normal game time."
 
On getting balanced scoring: "I know it has been good offensively, I mean the major concern is letting up goals. We can't be letting up goals like we have been. You don't win like that, as you see tonight. But it has been great seeing the depth and seeing everyone contributing to the stat sheet."
 

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