MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Denver Pioneers hockey team takes on the Cornell Big Red on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. MT in the NCAA Tournament Northeast Regional Semifinals at SNHU Arena. The game will be nationally televised on ESPNews and is also available on ESPN+.
Denver is the top seed in the Manchester region and is No. 4 overall in the national bracket. Cornell is No. 4 seed and ranks No. 12 in the national polls.
This is the first meeting between DU and CU since the teams faced off in a non-conference series on Dec. 5-6, 2014 in Ithaca, New York. The Big Red won the first game of that weekend set before the Pioneers responded the next night to earn the two-game split.
The teams have played each other four times previously in the national tournament, with Denver defeating Cornell in the 1969 National Championship Game and the Big Red earning the victory three years later in the national semifinals. The teams split a two-game series in the 1986 national quarterfinals, which saw DU advance based on goal aggregate (7-6).
Denver (30-9-0, 19-5-0 NCHC) earned an at-large bid into the national tournament despite losing 1-0 in the NCHC Frozen Faceoffs Semifinals to Colorado College last Friday at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. Goaltender
Magnus Chrona started and made 20 saves while
Matt Davis finished the contest and stopped all five shots he faced. Denver enters the tournament with an 11-2 mark in the last 13 games and have a 14-4 record in the past 18 contests since Jan. 7.
Cornell (20-10-2, 15-6-1 ECAC) is coming off a 1-0 overtime loss to Ivy-rival Harvard last Friday in the ECAC semifinals. Prior to the loss, the Big Red had won four games in a row, including sweeping Clarkson in two games in the conference quarterfinals.
No. 2 seed Boston University and No. 3 seed and NCHC-foe Western Michigan are set to play in the other semifinal in Manchester before DU and CU, with that game set for 12 p.m. MT (ESPN 2). The winners of the two semifinals will play in the regional final on Saturday at 2 p.m. MT (ESPNU). The four teams in Manchester have combined for 16 national championships.
The Pioneers will be making their 32nd appearance in the national tournament and have reached the Frozen Four in four of its last five trips to the Big Dance.
DU IN THE NATIONAL TOURNAMENT: Denver is in the NCAA Tournament for the 32nd time in program history and has reached the Big Dance in each of its last 14 full seasons dating back to 2008. The team is looking to become the first collegiate program to win 10 national titles.
The Pioneers are the defending NCAA Division-I champions after defeating UMass Lowell and Minnesota Duluth at the Loveland Regionals and topping Michigan and Minnesota State in the Frozen Four in Boston last year. DU has now reached the Frozen Four in four of its previous five tries in the tournament, including also winning the championship in 2017.
DU is ...40-24 all-time in the NCAA Tournament ...11-2 in its last 13 national tournament games dating back to 2017 ...14-4 in its last 18 NCAA tournament games dating back to 2015.
IN MANCHESTER: Denver will be playing in a regional in Manchester, New Hampshire, for the second time in program history. The Pioneers' only other regional visit to the city was on March 29, 2013 when they lost 5-2 to host New Hampshire in the semifinals.
DENVER VS. CORNELL IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT: Denver and Cornell have played four times previously in the NCAA Tournament, with DU owning a 2-2 all-time mark. The Pioneers defeated the Big Red for the 1969 national championship in Colorado Springs as DU goaltender Gerry Powers (recently passed away on Feb. 18) outdueled future hall of famer Ken Dryden in a 4-3 victory. Cornell beat DU 7-2 in the 1972 national semifinals. The teams both picked up wins against one another in the two-game quarterfinals in 1986, with the Pioneers advancing to the final four based on goal aggregate (8-7).
HISTORY VS. CORNELL: Denver and Cornell are set to play in their 13th all-time game and their first since a weekend series in Ithaca, N.Y., on Dec. 5-6, 2014. The Pioneers own a 7-5-0 all-time record against the Big Red and are 4-2 in the last six meetings. The teams have only played four times previously since 1986. In that last series in 2014, Cornell won 4-1 on Dec. 5 before Denver responded with a 3-1 victory the next night. The teams are 1-1 in neutral-site contests against one another, with DU winning the 1969 national championship in Colorado Springs and CU winning in the 1972 semifinals in Boston. The teams have played four times previously in the national tournament, with both sporting 2-2 marks. Denver is 5-1-0 in home games vs. Cornell and 1-3-0 in contests in Ithaca.
SCOUTING BIG RED: Cornell has a 20-10-2 overall record on the season and a 15-6-1 mark in conference play. The team swept its quarterfinal series against Clarkson in the ECAC Tournament before falling 1-0 in overtime to Harvard in the semifinals on Friday in Lake Placid, New York. The Big Red went 1-1-0 in neutral-site games during the year and had an impressive 12-3-1 mark at home while going 7-6-1 on the road. Cornell went 2-6 vs. ranked opponents during the season, with it defeating then-No. 6 Connecticut 6-0 in the Frozen Apple at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 26 and beating then-No. 1 Quinnipiac 4-0 at home on Jan. 20. CU is first in the country in shots against per game at 20.4 and has the fourth-ranked power play in the nation (25.9%)—DU is third at 26.6%. The Big Red ranks tied for second in goals against per game (2.0) and tied for eighth in goals per outing (3.4). Gabriel Seger is the team's leading scorer with 29 points (7g/22a) and is first in assists with 22. Ben Berard is second on Cornell with 27 points and is first with 10 goals—the only player on the team with double-digit tallies. Goaltender Ian Shane went 19-9-1 in 29 starts and 31 games during the year and also recorded a 1.76 goals-against average, .913 save percentage and four shutouts.
CORNELL CONNECTIONS: Cornell's Winter Wallace is from Boulder, Colorado, and played with
Aidan Thompson with the Rocky Mountain Roughriders 14U squad in 2016-17 … Wallace attended Shattuck-St. Mary's prep school in Minnesota at the same time as
Shai Buium (2017-2020), with them playing on the same 16U AAA team in 2018-19 …
Carter Mazur played one season each with Jack Lagerstrom (2019-20) and Kyler Kovich (2020-21) … Lagerstrom skated one season with
Massimo Rizzo on the Penticton Vees of the BCHL in 2018-19 and is from the same hometown as
Casey Dornbach (Edina, Minnesota) …
Connor Caponi played with Ondrej Psenicka with the USHL Waterloo Black Hawks in 2019-20 …
Tristan Broz was a teammate of Michael Suda with the USHL Fargo Force in 2020-21 …
Tyler Haskins played with Nick DeSantis with the USHL Madison Capitols in 2021-22 … Ian Shane (Manhattan Beach) and
Kyle Mayhew (Anaheim Hills) are both from Southern California … Cornell's Matthew Stienberg was a third-round draft pick of the Colorado Avalanche in 2019.
NCAA TOURNAMENT EXPERIENCE: Denver is returning 13 players from last year's championship team, with each of them suiting up in all four games of the 2022 national tournament:
Sean Behrens, Mike Benning, Shai Buium, Magnus Chrona, Jack Devine, Brett Edwards, Carter King, Justin Lee, Carter Mazur, Owen Ozar, Kyle Mayhew, Massimo Rizzo, McKade Webster. DU is also returning the 2022 Frozen Four Most Outstanding Player in defenseman
Mike Benning, who recorded five points (1g/4a) in four games.
Overall, 15 players on the team have national tournament experience, as senior
Casey Dornbach played two games with Harvard (one each in 2019 and 2022) and sophomore
Tristan Broz skated in three games in 2022 with Minnesota en route to its Frozen Four berth.
Fifth-year senior
Kyle Mayhew has the most experience with seven games, as he also played in all three contests for the Pioneers in their 2019 trip to the Frozen Four in Buffalo, N.Y.
NATIONAL TOURNAMENT MISCELLANEOUS
- Denver's 32 trips to the national tournament are the sixth-most among all teams in the country.
- The Pioneers are 3-3-0 vs. other NCAA Tournament teams, all of whom are other NCHC squads.
- DU had the third-best record (tied) in its final 10 games before the tournament at 8-2-0 (.800).
- The Pioneers enter with the fifth-best record among tournament teams since the holiday break at 14-5-0 (.737).
- Denver has eight players with 10 or more goals, the most among all 16 teams in the tournament.
- DU joins Michigan and Quinnipiac as the only teams with six or more players with 30-plus points.
- Denver's six seniors are tied for the second-fewest, while its 16 underclassmen are tied for the second-most among the 16 NCAA teams.
- The Pioneers have the top-scoring sophomore class (213 points) and the fifth-highest scoring freshman class (67 points) in the tournament.
- Denver is the fourth-youngest team in the national tournament at 21.9 years of age.
- David Carle is coaching in his third national tournament and is one of six bench bosses in this year's field that is coaching at their alma mater.
- Casey Dornbach has the second-most career points among active players in the tournament with 124 (Ethan de Jon, Quinnipiac, 141) and the second-most assists with 84 (Zach Metsa, Quinnipiac, 86).
- Mike Benning has the fifth-most points among active defensemen in the tournament (83) … Benning has the second-most points (1g/4a) in the national tournament among active players in this year's field.
- Magnus Chrona has the most career games played (114) and wins (71) among active goalies in the tournament … Chrona has the most national tournament wins among this year's field of goalies (4).
NEW ENGLAND CONNECTIONS: Denver Athletics Director
Josh Berlo earned his undergraduate degree at UMass in 1999 …
Aidan Thompson played prep school hockey at Berkshire School in Sheffield, Mass. …
Casey Dornbach spent four years playing college hockey at Harvard University … DU sports performance director
Matt Shaw worked five years with athletic departments in Massachusetts, four at Boston University and one at Harvard. He earned his bachelor's degree in 2010 and master's in 2011 from BU.
EVERY NIGHT: Five players have skated in all 39 games this season for the Pioneers:
Tristan Broz, Casey Dornbach, Justin Lee, Kyle Mayhew and
Carter Mazur. Mike Benning missed his first game of the season on Friday due to an illness.
NATIONAL LEADERBOARD
- Carter Mazur is tied for fourth in goals (22) and tied for second in game-winning goals (6).
- Massimo Rizzo is tied for eighth in points (46) and tied for 11th in assists (29).
- Mike Benning is third in goals (12) and is fourth in points (35) by a defenseman.
- Magnus Chrona is tied for fifth in wins (22) and tied for ninth in shutouts (4).
AWARD SEASON: The Pioneers picked up four awards on March 16 at the annual NCHC Awards Celebration prior to the Frozen Faceoff in St. Paul.
In addition, DU had finalists for several other awards:
Magnus Chrona for Player of the Year,
David Carle for Coach of the Year,
Massimo Rizzo for Forward of the Year,
Carter Mazur for Defensive Forward of the Year and the Three Stars Award.
ALL-NCHC TEAM: Denver had five players named to All-NCHC Teams, with three earning first-team honors: forward
Massimo Rizzo, defenseman
Mike Benning and goaltender
Magnus Chrona. Forward
Carter Mazur was chosen to the conference's second-team and defenseman
Sean Behrens was named an honorable mention.
The Pioneers had the most players honored on All-NCHC teams, with St. Cloud State having second-most with four skaters picking up accolades.
30-AND-30: The Pioneers recorded their second consecutive 30-win season with their win on March 11 vs. Miami, marking the first time in the program's 74-year history that it has reached the 30-win threshold. DU, which won 31 games last season en route to a championship, was the second team in the country to reach the mark, as Quinnipiac accomplished the feat just an hour earlier on the same day.
Overall, DU has won at least 30 games in a campaign eight times in its history.
TRENDS: Denver is...
- 28-3-0 when scoring three or more goals and 20-1-0 when tallying at least four.
- 25-2-0 when holding an opponent to two goals or fewer.
- 22-0-0 when scoring first.
- 15-0-0 when leading after the first period and 24-1-0 when leading after the second.
- 24-4-0 when outshooting the opposition.
- 16-3-0 on Saturdays (14-6-0 on Friday).
CAREER HIGHS: The following Pioneers have already set or matched their previous career highs this season:
- Sean Behrens: Goals (3-tied)
- Shai Buium: Goals (4), Assists (17), Points (21)
- Tristan Broz: Goals (10), Assists (18), Points (28)
- Connor Caponi: Assists (4), Points (6)
- Jack Caruso: Games Played (3)
- Matt Davis: Games Played/Started (13/8), Wins (8)
- Jack Devine: Goals (14), Assists (17), Points (31), GWG (6)
- Casey Dornbach: Goals (13)
- Brett Edwards: Assists (4)
- Carter King: Goals (11), Assists (12), Points (23)
- Lane Krenzen: Games Played (12)
- Justin Lee: Goals (6), GWG (4)
- Kyle Mayhew: Goals (2-tied), Assists (11), Points (13)
- Carter Mazur: Goals (22), GWG (6)
- Owen Ozar: Goals (1), Assists (5), Points (6)
- Massimo Rizzo: Goals (17), Assists (29), Points (46)
- McKade Webster: Goals (6-tied), Assists (8), Points (14)
ROAD WARRIORS: Denver recorded four road series sweep this season—all of which have come against NCHC opponents. The Pioneers finished with a 10-4-0 record on road this year, with each of their wins coming against conference foes and all of their losses coming in rinks with non-NHL-size ice.
This is the first time in the Pioneers' NCHC era that the squad has four road sweeps in a season, as Denver last accomplished the feat in 2001-02 in the WCHA with road series wins at Michigan Tech, Minnesota Duluth, Minnesota State and Wisconsin.
Denver won six straight road games from Oct. 28-Dec. 10, the team's longest road winning streak since also have a six-game run from Jan. 21-March 4, 2017 as part of its championship-winning campaign (non-neutral site games).
The Pios picked up their first weekend sweep of Minnesota Duluth since Dec. 1-2, 2017 and swept North Dakota in Grand Forks on Nov. 11-12 for the first time since Jan. 29-30, 2010. This is the first time in program history that DU has compiled road sweeps at UND and UMD in the same season.
MONTH-BY-MONTH: Denver is 4-1 in the month of March, securing its 16th straight month where it will post at least a .500 record dating back to January 2021. The Pios have also guaranteed themselves a
greater-than .500 mark in 13 straight months since October 2021.
PIONEERS IN THE POLLS: Denver was No. 4 in both the USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls and in the Pairwise Rankings prior to the start of the NCAA Tournament. DU has been inside the top five all season in each weekly poll.
Overall, the NCHC has five teams in the USCHO.com poll, tied for the most among all conferences (Big Ten): St. Cloud State (6/6), Western Michigan (9/11), North Dakota (17/16) and Omaha (20/NR). Colorado College also received votes in the USCHO.com poll.
PENROSE CUP CHAMPIONS: Denver won its second consecutive Penrose Cup as NCHC regular-season champions. This is the third time that DU has won the trophy, having also done so in 2016-17 and 2021-22 en route to national championships in those seasons.
Overall, this year marked DU's 15th regular-season title as the school won 12 as a member of the old WCHA. The last time Denver earned consecutive regular-season championships was 1971-72 and 1972-73 in the WCAHA. The Pioneers entered the season as favorites to win the Penrose Cup in the conference's annual preseason poll.
The Penrose Cup was the third of five possible trophies that DU can win, as the team has already earned the Ice Breaker Tournament championship and Gold Pan vs. Colorado College.
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