DENVER – The No. 4 Denver Pioneers hockey team scored two goals in a matter of 14 seconds in the second period to break open the score and earned a 5-3 victory against the North Dakota Fighting Hawks on Friday at Magness Arena.
 
UND tied the game 2-2 with a power-play marker from Ethan Frisch at 4:53 of the middle frame, but Sean Behrens buried a cross pass from Jack Devine just 16 seconds later and Massimo Rizzo found twine 14 ticks after that to give the Pioneers a 4-2 advantage and a lead they didn't relinquish.
 
"It was a choppy, ugly hockey game really from the start," said Richard and Kitzia Goodman hockey head coach David Carle. "Not a lot of flow to it. Either way, not a ton of sustained O-zone time for either team. You are just trying to stay in the moment and focus on the next shift and move on from what just happened. We have some dynamic players that made big-time plays tonight, particularly off the rush. I loved the response after the 2-2 (goal). We scored two goals in 16 seconds. That was huge."
 
Carter Mazur scored twice for Denver, while Aidan Thompson also tallied. Behrens also contributed a helper on Mazur's first marker to make it a 2-1 contest with 2:12 remaining in the first period, and fellow defenseman Mike Benning also had a multi-point night with a pair of assists.
 
Denver goaltender Magnus Chrona made 34 saves on 37 shots as the team won its third game in a row overall and third-straight in regulation against the Fighting Hawks this season—the first time since the 2009-10 season it has accomplished the feat against one of its oldest rivals.
 
Carson Albrecht, Judd Caulfield and Frisch tallied for UND, which was able to tie the outing at 1-1 in the first and 2-2 in the second before DU's pair of quick strikes. Drew DeRidder started the game in net and made 7-of-11 saves before being replaced after Rizzo's goal for Jakob Hellsten, who made 11 stops on 12 shots.
 
Two of the Fighting Hawks' goals came on the power play, including one during a major penalty.
 
UP NEXT: Denver and North Dakota wrap up their weekend and four-game season series on Saturday at 6 p.m. MT. The game will be broadcasted on NCHC.tv.
 
POSTGAME NOTES

• The Pioneers were playing their first home game against North Dakota since January 2021 during the COVID-shortened season and their first with fans in the building since Nov. 15-16, 2019.
• Aidan Thompson recorded his 20th point in 21 games this season and is on a three-game point streak (1g/2a). He has registered at least a point in 16-of-21 contests this year.
• Carter Mazur recorded his fifth multi-goal game of the season. He now has 19 goals on the year, tied for the third-most in the NCAA.
• Mike Benning now has 16 points on the season, tied for the sixth-most by a blueliner in the nation.

 
GOAL SUMMARY
1st Period
2:52 DU (1-0) – Aidan Thompson intercepted the puck on a failed clear by North Dakota and found twine with a wrist shot from the slot area.
7:30 UND (1-1) – Carson Albrecht took a pass from Jackson Blake and scored five-hole all alone in front of the DU goalie
17:48 DU (2-1) – Sean Behrens sent a cross pass to Carter Mazur, who scored from the right circle during a rush up the ice
 
2nd Period
4:53 UND (2-2) – Ethan Frisch took a feed from behind the net and scored from the slot.
5:09 DU (3-2) – Sean Behrens received a pass from Jack Devine and tallied from the left side.
5:23 DU (4-2) – After Mike Benning stole the puck in the neutral zone, he passed it over to Massimo Rizzo, who buried his shot from slot.
10:37 UND (4-3) – PPG, Judd Caulfield tallied during a major power play
 
3rd Period
4:53 DU (5-3) – Carter Mazur danced through three North Dakota players in the offensive zone and then scored with a wrister while falling to the ice.
 
QUOTABLES
Richard and Kitzia Goodman Head Coach David Carle
On Carter Mazur: "I thought he was really engaged tonight with moving his feet and trying to attack the inside of the ice. He was moving at the right time and hanging on to it at the right time. I just thought he looked really determined from his first shift on. In the game, played a big role on penalty kill as well. I thought he was really good tonight, one of his best he's had in a while."
 
On Sean Behrens: "He was involved in a lot of stuff tonight, and it was nice to see him get rewarded. He earned his goal with the effort he put in and some of the stuff he had to handle tonight."
 
Sophomore Defenseman Sean Behrens
On the rivalry with North Dakota: "Sure, that's a good team over there. They are fighting for their season right now; they are a desperate team so the intensity of the game is really good. It was high pass, you know, just really back-and0forth kind of battle there.
 
On how the game showed the team's resilience: "I think that this team has a lot of character. Throughout the year, we have been building closer as a team. I think when we get punched in the face, we are getting a lot better at responding. Obviously that was huge for us tonight, changed the game. And ended up being that game winner that second goal; those two goals were huge for us."
 
Sophomore Forward Carter Mazur
On his performance: "I really don't care about individual stats, I'm more about the team. Just to get those two goals was massive for my confidence in a way but still it's all about the team wins and getting to the end."
 
On the two quick goals: "Yeah that was crazy, I honestly didn't see the second one because it was so quick but to just have that happen is huge. Just to get that momentum back when they tied was massive for our team."
 
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