GRAND FORKS, N.D. – Sophomore defenseman Zeev Buium scored the first hat trick by a Denver Pioneers hockey defenseman in 20 years on Friday night in a 5-2 victory against the No. 9 North Dakota Fighting Hawks at Ralph Engelstad Arena.
 
Buium scored twice in the first period and completed the three-goal game into an empty net with two seconds remaining. It was just the 12th hat trick by a DU D-men in program history and the first since Ryan Caldwell on Feb. 14, 2004 against Minnesota State. The last Pioneer blueliner to accomplish the feat on the road was Ian DeCorby at St. Cloud State on Dec. 29, 1990.
 
"It feels good," Buium said. "Obviously got to thank my teammates for setting me up and all I had to do was put the puck in the back of the net."
 
The Pioneers remained undefeated following their first NCHC contest of the campaign, extending their school-record and season-opening win streak to 11 games in a row. The Fighting Hawks (5-5-0, 2-1-0 NCHC) dropped their first conference outing of the year after sweeping Minnesota Duluth last weekend.
 
Denver and North Dakota wrap up their two-game series on Saturday at 5 p.m. MT in Grand Forks. The game will be broadcast regionally in Colorado on Altitude and it will also be available on NCHC.tv.
 
Senior Jack Devine had three assists while fellow forwards Aidan Thompson and Sam Harris both had a goal and an assist to extend their respective career-long point streaks. Thompson has points in all 11 outings this year while Harris now has points in each of the last eight games he's played.
 
Kent Anderson, James Reeder and Samu Salminen all had assists, with Reeder and Salminen also extending personal-long point streaks.
 
Goaltender Matt Davis made 22 saves in the victory, as the Pioneers outshot the Fighting Hawks 39-24 overall.
 
"Really proud of our guys," said Richard and Kitzia Goodman Hockey Head Coach David Carle. "To limit them to 24 shots and to go into the third period up by two and only give up four shots and have to kill a penalty in that period, I thought we showed a lot of maturity and growth here tonight to lock the game down and secure the victory and manage it well. We worked all night long."
 
Both of North Dakota's goals came unassisted as Dane Montgomery and Ben Strinden tallied off DU turnovers.
 
The Pios led 2-1 after the first period on Buium's goals, and they took a 4-2 advantage into the second intermission after Harris scored at 3:07 of the middle frame and Thompson buried his eighth marker of the season with 2:55 left before the break. Thompson's tally was especially a momentum shifter for DU as it came 52 seconds after Strinden netted a breakaway marker to cut UND's deficit to 3-1.
 
Denver's 11-game season-opening win streak is the longest in program history and the Pioneers have now won 20-straight contests dating back to March 9 versus Colorado College, which sets a school record for the longest across multiple seasons in the team's 75-year existence.
 
UP NEXT: The Pioneers and Fighting Hawks face off again on Saturday at 5 p.m. MT at Ralph Engelstad Arena in a game that will be broadcast on Altitude and NCHC.tv. The teams will meet in Denver on Feb. 14-15.
 

POSTGAME NOTES

• Zeev Buium scored three times, his first goals of the season and now has 13 points this year. It was his second career multi-goal game (March 22, 2024 vs. St. Cloud State, NCHC Semifinals) and the second by a DU defenseman this season, joining Eric Pohlkamp on Nov. 1 at Yale.
• Buium's three goals were the first by a Denver player since March 10, 2023 when Jack Devine tallied four times against Miami.
• Aidan Thompson had a goal and an assist and stretched his career-long and season-opening point streak to 11 games (8g/11a).
• Sam Harris had a goal and assist and pushed his personal-best point streak to eight games (8g/5a) and now has points in nine of the 10 games he's played this year.
• Samu Salminen had a helper and is now on a career-best four-game assist/point streak (0g/4a).
• Freshman James Reeder now has points in each of the last seven contests (2g/5a).
• DU fired 18 shots on goal in the first period, the second-most in a stanza this season behind only the 19 it had in the opening frame on Oct. 6 at Alaska Anchorage.
• Denver scored on the power play for the eighth-straight game, its longest run since also tallying in eight straight contests last season from Dec. 8 2023-Jan. 20, 2024.

 
GOAL SUMMARY
1st Period
5:57 DU (1-0) – Zeev Buium took a drop pass from Jack Devine and fired a wrist shot into the twine about 30 seconds after a UND power play expired.
9:34 UND (1-1) – Dane Montgomery intercepted the puck in the Denver zone and found the back of the net with a wrist shot.
13:00 DU (2-1) – PPG, Zeev Buium fired a one-time shot off a pass from Jack Devine that went off a UND player in front and into the cage.
 
2nd Period
3:07 DU (3-1) – Samu Salminen dug the puck out in the corner and sent it to the front of the net where Sam Harris buried a shot.
16:13 UND (3-2) – Ben Strinden scored on a breakaway after a Pioneer player lost an edge at the blue line.
17:05 DU (4-2) – Aidan Thompson received a cross-pass from Jack Devine and fired a snap-shot that just got under the goalie's glove.
 
3rd Period
19:58 DU (5-2) – ENG, Zeev Buium completed the hat trick into an open net
 

QUOTABLES
Richard and Kitzia Goodman Hockey Head Coach David Carle
On the early penalties: "Not an ideal way to start. To take four penalties on the road is not ideal. All stick penalties if I'm remembering them right. I think some of our guys didn't like (the penalties), but we can't put the game in the refs' hands. You make it challenging on yourself, especially when it's some of your penalty-killing forwards going into the box, but I thought we grinded through it."
 
On the tough matchup with No. 10 North Dakota: "Proud of the group. This was a big test and there was a lot of chatter of, 'Oh, they're 10-0, but they haven't played any one. Can they do it on the road against North Dakota?' We secured the first one. You can't sweep without winning Friday, and now our challenge is to turn the page and do it again tomorrow night."
 
On Zeev Buium's game: "His best performance of the season so far. Obviously he had the hat trick, but we felt on the bench that he was the most in-control he has been managing the game with and without the puck, managing his emotions. He's going out and playing hockey and defending at a real high level. I thought he got a lot of pucks touching his sticks, breaking plays out, helped us get out of our zone quickly, and obviously he contributed on the offensive end as well with three goals."
 
Sophomore Defenseman Zeev Buium
On playing North Dakota: "We always love coming here and playing in this building. It's an exciting game, and we were all ready for the challenge."
 
On the defense being young but also experienced: "We have guys like Kent Anderson and Cale Ashcroft that have stepped up in a big way. Being sophomores and having won it with the four of us back there definitely helps."
 

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