DENVER – The No. 6 University of Denver hockey team scored five unanswered goals in the second period on Friday night to defeat the No. 14 St. Cloud State Huskies 5-1 at Magness Arena.
 
Denver (15-5-1, 6-3-0) is now on a season-long four-game winning streak and goes for the weekend sweep of the NCHC-leading Huskies on Saturday at 6 p.m. MT. The loss was St. Cloud's (11-6-2) first of the season in conference play, dropping its league record to 7-1-1 on the year.
 
Junior Massimo Rizzo scored twice in the second period to jumpstart the Pioneers after the team trailed 1-0 at the first intermission. Sophomores Rieger Lorenz and Jared Wright and freshman Miko Matikka also tallied in the frame for Denver.
 
Junior Carter Kind led DU in points with three assists, tying a career high for the category. Fellow classmate Jack Devine also had a multi-point night with a pair of helpers.
 
Pioneer junior goaltender Matt Davis finished with 29 saves, with the only shot to get past him coming from Ethan AuCoin with 90 seconds remaining in the third period. Davis improved to 6-1-1 on the season and is unbeaten in his last five games dating back to Oct. 21 at Boston College (4-0-1).
 
Rizzo evened the scoring for Denver at 1-1 just 1:39 into the second period by whacking in a loose rebound in the low slot, and he gave DU a 3-1 advantage with a one-touch wrister at 10:50 of the stanza.
 
Wright notched the eventual game-winning goal at 2:47 of the second, just 1:12 after Rizzo's first marker of the night.
 
The Pioneers added two more tallies in the final four minutes of the middle frame, beginning with Lorenz scoring shorthanded off an assist from King, who leads the nation with four man-disadvantage goals in the campaign.
 
Matikka finished DU's five-goal second period by tallying on the power play with four seconds left. The Pios' five markers were tied for the most in a period this season (Nov. 17 vs. Omaha).
 
The Pioneers outshot the Huskies 37-30 overall and went 2-for-5 on the power play while holding St. Cloud scoreless on its four man-advantage chances.
 
UP NEXT: The Pioneers conclude the weekend series and four-game homestand on Saturday at 6 p.m. MT at Magness Arena.

 
POSTGAME NOTES

• Denver opened its four-game regular-season season series against St. Cloud State and won its first game in the series since Nov. 5, 2022.
• The Pioneers are now 10-1-0 in the last 11 meetings with the Huskies at Magness Arena.
• DU gave St. Cloud its first NCHC loss of the season.
• The Pios tied a season high with five goals during one period (Nov. 17 vs. Omaha, 2nd).
• DU tied a season best with two power-play goals in both a full game (eighth time) and single period (seventh time).
• Massimo Rizzo tallied twice for his sixth multi-goal game of his career and second of the season (Oct. 28, 2023 vs. Air Force).
• Jared Wright gave the Pioneers the 2-1 lead early in the second period, scoring his sixth goal of the season and earning his second game-winning goal of the season.
• Rieger Lorenz registered his eighth goal of the season and second career short-handed goal.
• Miko Matikka tallied his 13th goal in the last 13 games. Matikka now has points in 12 of the last 13 games and has tallied a goal in 10 of those contests during that stretch.
• Zeev Buium had his career-long 12-game point streak that began on Nov. 3 end (4g/17a). It was the longest streak by a freshman defenseman in the country in the last 21-plus years (online databases don't go back further than 2002).

 
GOAL SUMMARY
1st Period
18:30 SCSU (0-1) – Ethan AuCoin scored in front after taking a pass from Tyson Gross in the corner.
 
2nd Period
1:39 DU (1-1) – PPG, Massimo Rizzo knocked in a loose puck in the low slot after a DU shot was blocked.
2:47 DU (2-1) – Cale Ashcroft's shot caromed off the end boards and Jared Wright gathered the puck along the post and deposited it into the open near-side of the net.
10:50 DU (3-1) – Massimo Rizzo tallied with a wrister off a pass from McKade Webster.
16:18 DU (4-1) – SHG, Carter King fed the puck forward to Rieger Lorenz, who scored shorthanded while crashing the net
19:56 DU (5-1) – PPG, Miko Matikka buried a one-timer from a pass by Tristan Broz prior to the end of the period.
 
3rd Period
No Scoring
 
 
QUOTABLES
Richard and Kitzia Goodman Hockey Head Coach David Carle
On the game: "It was really good. There was a lot to like. The first period, we did some good things, didn't do enough of it consistently. Second period, guys adjusted, executed, and left the period with two power play, two even-strength goals and a shorty. There is going to be a lot to like. I thought [goaltender] Matty Davis was excellent when called upon. They still had 30 shots. It is not like it was an easy night for him. I do not necessarily think it was a 5-1 game, but we certainly did a lot of good things and Matty was a big part of it. I thought it was a mature of a third period as we've had all year, which was a really good sign of growth in our puck management and how we track back in our own end. A ton to like against an excellent hockey team. They are very well-coached, structured, old, big, heavy, whatever you want to use. It's not an easy team to play against. First loss for them in league play, so that shows to the level that they are."
 
On playing DU's style during the game: "I think it was getting to things in our game, getting to our strengths ultimately is what it was. And I don't think that's any secret. We broke pucks out low, we advanced pucks north and we possessed more pucks. That led to shorter shifts, longer zone time, all those things and we scored power-play goals."
 
On Carter King's growth and consistency: "Very consistent performer and keeps getting better and better. Very proud of him, and he puts the work in and does everything the right way and is getting rewarded. So it's really fun as a coach when someone comes in and continuously builds themself up in the program and keeps adding value."
 
Junior Forward Carter King
On playing DU-style hockey: "Just cleaning up in the neutral zone, making sure we get the pucks behind their D-men. Make them turn because we are confident in our forecheck and getting the puck back, using that and turning into puck possession into the offensive zone."
 
On developing his game: "The coaches have a lot of faith in me, and I really appreciate that. They've given me a really good opportunity to grow and develop, and I thank them for that. My linemates have been helping out too, and having trust in everyone helps. I've been here for three and a half years now. It just felt like I have been trying to get better and better and improve my game all around and I feel like I've been doing that."
 
Junior Forward Massimo Rizzo
On Second period: "I think we all know we are a second-period team. It was a hard first period, coming off game like Niagara last weekend, St. Cloud this weekend. Once we got our feet under us, I thought we executed and played well."
 
On playing their game: "Just sticking to our process, getting the puck behind their defensemen. Two-eight turnovers in the first period. Then once we started playing our way, things worked out well for us."
 
On second goal: "Good forecheck from my line mates, caused a turnover. [McKade Webster] made a good play, and I just tried to get the shot through and luckily it went in."
 
Junior Goaltender Matt Davis
On his big pad save in second period: "We worked on that play all week, our goalie coach ran that well and said they like to slide pucks to the backdoor. I had that in the back of my mind and was able to slide over and make the save."
 
On his confidence after injury: "I feel great. It's been a great three games for me, and I've been having a lot of fun so can't wait to keep going."
 
On his season progression: "I wouldn't say much has changed. Most of the games at the beginning of the year, there's some stuff that didn't go my way, which is going my way now. I had a small sample size then and then the injury happened, but I'm feeling good right now."

 

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