ST. PAUL, Minn. – The No. 3 nationally-ranked Denver Pioneers hockey team continues the postseason on Friday with a conference semifinal matchup against the No. 17-ranked St. Cloud State Huskies in the 2024 NCHC Frozen Faceoff at Xcel Energy Center.
 
Denver is the No. 2 seed in the NCHC Tournament and will play No. 3-seed St. Cloud State at 6:30 p.m. MT in the second semifinal game at the home of the NHL's Minnesota Wild. The game will be nationally televised on CBS Sports Network.
 
The Pioneers advanced to the Frozen Faceoff semifinals for a 10th time in their history after sweeping their quarterfinal series versus Minnesota Duluth with 4-0 and 5-2 victories last weekend. Denver is the only squad to advance to the NCHC's final four in all 10-held tournaments, and the program is looking for its third NCHC Tournament title (2014, 2018) and 18th overall in conference tournaments (had won 15 in WCHA).
 
St. Cloud State is the defending Frozen Faceoff champions after winning last year's tournament over Colorado College, but the team needed a deciding-third game in its opening-round series to advance to this year's final four in St. Paul. The Huskies beat No. 6-seed Western Michigan 5-1 on Sunday at home after the Broncos evened the best-of-three series with a Saturday night win in Game 2.
 
DU is making its third trip to Minnesota over the last month, as the program played at Minnesota Duluth on Feb. 16-17 before their most recent visit to St. Cloud on March 1-2. The Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul is also the site of this year's NCAA Frozen Four in three weeks time on April 11-13.
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The Pioneers secured the regular-season series against Huskies by sweeping that last two-game set at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center earlier this month. Denver won 6-2 in the opener on March 1 before earning a 7-2 victory the next night for the program's first road sweep in St. Cloud since Dec. 7-8, 2007 when it had a pair of 3-2 victories.  DU went unbeaten during the main campaign versus SCSU, going 3-0-1 that included winning 5-1 at Magness Arena on Jan. 12 before the teams tied 3-3 the next night (St. Cloud won the shootout for the extra NCHC point).
 
Denver and St. Cloud State are meeting in the NCHC Tournament for the third time, with each team picking up a win in the previous two matchups. The Pios won the 2018 championship game over the Huskies and lost in the 2016 semifinals. Overall, Denver is 2-3 against St. Cloud in all-time conference tournament games, as the squads played just one best-of-three series in the WCHA in 1996 (SCSU won 2-1).
 
The NCHC Frozen Faceoff Championship Game is Saturday at 6:30 p.m. MT at Xcel Energy Center, with Denver or St. Cloud playing the winner of the first semifinal on Friday between No. 1-seed North Dakota and previous No. 5-seed Omaha. The UNO Mavericks reached the NCHC semifinals for the first time in their history after winning Games 2 and 3 at Colorado College last weekend in Colorado Springs.
 
LAST TIME OUT: The No. 2-seed Pioneers swept their NCHC Quarterfinal series in two games against No. 7-seed Minnesota Duluth.  DU earned a 4-0 shutout victory on Friday before securing its spot in the conference semifinals on Saturday with a 5-2 win in Game 2.
 
Goaltender Matt Davis stopped all 17 shots for his first shutout of the season on Friday and received goal support from Jack Devine (two), McKade Webster and Connor Caponi (empty net).  Davis stopped 28 shots on Saturday, as Rieger Lorenz led Denver with two goals while defenseman Sean Behrens scored the game-winning tally in the second and also added an assist.  Aidan Thompson and Tristan Broz also found the back of the net.
 
NOTABLES

• Denver picked up its eighth series sweep of the 2023-24 campaign, and it was the team's first home sweep since Jan. 5-6 vs. Niagara.
• DU earned its fourth shutout of the season on Friday and first against an NCHC opponent.
• The Pioneers finished the home slate on a four-game winning streak (Feb. 24-March 16), tying a season long (also Dec. 2-Jan. 12).
• DU allowed only one shot against in the second period on Friday, tied for the fewest in a game this season (Nov. 24 vs. Yale, 1st; Nov. 19 vs. Omaha, 3rd).
• Goaltender Matt Davis recorded his first shutout of the season on Friday and is on a three-game winning streak, tying a season long (third time).  He also recorded his third assist of the season on Saturday.
• Jack Devine scored two goals in Friday's second period, marking the fifth instance where he has tallied multiple times in a single frame this season (eighth time overall by a DU player).
• Aidan Thompson and Rieger Lorenz each scored in a matter of 27 seconds in the second period on Saturday for the fastest two goals by the Pioneers this season. Carter King and Lorenz previously had the fastest at 34 seconds in the third period on Nov. 11 at Arizona State.
• Rieger Lorenz recorded his second career multi-goal game and second of the season on Saturday (Nov. 17, 2023 vs. Omaha). It was his sixth career multi-point outing (fifth this season).
• Tristan Broz fired a career-high seven shots on goal and won a personal-best 16 faceoffs on Saturday.
• Jared Wright had his first career two-assist game on Saturday.
• Sean Behrens (four), Connor Caponi (five) and Aidan Thompson (11 goals) all set new single-season career highs in goals after scoring last weekend vs. Duluth.
• McKade Webster scored his eighth game-winning goal of his career on Friday and fourth of the season, tying Jared Wright for the team lead. Sean Behrens tallied his second game-winner of the season/career on Saturday.

PIONEERS IN THE NCHC TOURNAMENT: The Pioneers advanced to the NCHC Frozen Faceoff semifinals for the 10th time after sweeping Minnesota Duluth in two games last week and is the only NCHC squad to reach the conference's final four in all 10-held tournaments.  Denver is 2-7 all-time in the semifinal round.
 
DU is 26-9-1 all-time in the NCHC Tournament and improved to 19-2 in quarterfinal contests and earned its seventh sweep by defeating UMD in two games in the first round.  The Pios won the inaugural NCHC Tournament in 2014 and also won in 2018.
 
DU VS. ST. CLOUD IN THE TOURNAMENT: Denver and St. Cloud State are set to meet in the NCHC Tournament for the third time, with the teams last meeting in the 2018 championship game when the Pioneers won 4-1.  The squads first met in the 2016 semifinals, where Denver fell 4-2.  DU is 2-3 all-time against SCSU in conference tournament games, as the squads only faced off in one first-round series in their WCHA days, with the Huskies winning the best-of-three series 2-1 on March 1-3, 1996 at the DU Arena.
 
TOUGH PLACE TO SWEEP: The Pioneers won both road games at St. Cloud State on March 1-2 for the first time in more than 16 years.  The last time that DU won both games in a series at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center was Dec. 7-8, 2007 when it had a pair of 3-2 victories—back when head coach David Carle was still and undecided college recruit.  Denver's win on Friday night was its first series-opening victory in St. Cloud since March 6, 2015 (3-2 win).
 
KILLER PENALTY KILL: The Pioneers have killed off 90.9 percent of their penalties over the last seven games dating back to Feb. 25 vs. Miami, going 20-for-22 in that stretch.  DU has been perfect in five of those games, including going 4-for-4 on the PK on three occasions.
 
STRONG STRETCHES:

• Jack Devine is on a five-game point streak (5g/2a) and has 14 points (6g/8a) in the last 11 games.
• Sam Harris is on a three-game point streak (2g/3a) and has 12 points (8g/4a) in the last 10 games.
• Aidan Thompson has seven points (2g/5a) in the last seven games.
• Zeev Buium has 10 points in the last nine games (2g/8a).
• Kieran Cebrian has seven points (1g/6a) in the last seven games.
• Jared Wright has 12 points (8g/4a) in the last 13 games.
• Tristan Broz has 17 points (5g/12a) in the last 11 games.
• Rieger Lorenz has nine points (6g/3a) in the last nine games.

CONSISTENCY IN THE PIPES: Goaltender Matt Davis has started 20 straight games after returning from injury following the holiday break, going 14-4-2 in those contests.  It is the longest consecutive games started stretch by a DU netminder since Magnus Chrona started 25 outings in a row from Nov. 5, 2021-Feb. 25, 2022.
 
Davis has posted two career-long shutout streaks over the last four weeks and recorded a new high of 127:19 across three games from the second period on March 9 vs. Colorado College to the third period on Saturday, March 16 vs. Minnesota Duluth.  His previous personal best was 105:44 across three contests from Feb. 23-March 1.
 
DEVINE GOALS: Junior Jack Devine recorded his ninth multi-goal game of the season in Game 1 of the NCHC Quarterfinals on March 15 vs. Minnesota Duluth in what was also his 18th multi-point outing of 2023-24.  He now has 27 goals this season, the most by a Denver skater since Ryan Dingle also had 27 tallies in 2005-06 and third-most in the nation this year.  Dave Shields (31) and Eric Murano (33) were the last DU player to score more than 27 goals in a season when they both accomplished the feat in 1989-90.
 
Devine ranks fourth in overall scoring with 54 points.  He had a career-long five-game assist streak from Feb. 3-24, which also matched his longest point streak of his collegiate tenure from the start of this season on Oct. 7-27 (6g/7a).  That streak in October featured two or more points in each contest, the  longest multi-point streak by a Pioneer since Massimo Rizzo also had a five-game stretch from Oct. 21-Nov. 4, 2022 (4g/9a).
 
The Glencoe, Illinois, native was the first player in the country to reach the 20-goal threshold on Jan. 19 at Omaha.  He accomplished the feat in just 23 games to become the quickest Pioneer in recent history to hit the mark.
 
HISTORY VS. ST. CLOUD: Denver won the four-game regular season series against St. Cloud State 3-0-1, including winning both games in Minnesota earlier this month on March 1-2; winning 6-2 and 7-2 for its first sweep in St. Cloud since Dec. 7-8, 2007.  The teams met on Jan. 12-13 in Magness Arena where the Pioneers took four-of-six points, winning 5-1 in the opener before the teams tied 3-3 in the finale; SCSU won the tiebreaking shootout 2-1 for the extra conference point.  The Pioneers own a 59-52-7 all-time record over the Huskies, with them owning a 34-25-3 mark at home and are 24-24-4 on the road. In neutral site games, Denver is 1-3-0 vs. SCSU, which includes two games in the NCHC Pod in Omaha in December 2020 (both losses).  The Pioneers are 6-3-1 in the last 10 meetings against the Huskies.
 
SCOUTING THE HUSKIES: St. Cloud State is the defending NCHC Frozen Faceoff champions and won its quarterfinal series against Western Michigan last weekend in three games.  The Huskies won Game 1 5-2 on Friday before falling 6-1 the next night. They earned a 5-1 victory on Sunday in the deciding Game 3.  St. Cloud has a 17-15-5 overall record and finished third in the NCHC standings during the regular season with 41 points and an 11-9-4 conference record. Veeti Miettinen leads the team with 20 goals and 35 points.  Dylan Anhorn is second on the team in scoring with 32 points and is first with 26 assists.  Kyler Kupka (14g/17a) is second on the squad in goals and third with 31 points.  Goaltender Isak Posch has started nine of the last 10 games and owns a 5-5-2 record, 2.79 goals-against average and .904 save percentage this season.  Dominic Base has started 24-of-25 games played and owns a 12-10-2 record, 2.75 goals-against average, .896 save percentage and three shutouts.
 
CONNECTIONS: St. Cloud State head coach Brett Larson served as an assistant coach under DU head coach David Carle with Team USA and helped the squad win gold at the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship in Sweden … Tristan Broz (Bloomington) and Jared Wright (Burnsville) are both from Minnesota … Shai Buium (2017-21), Zeev Buium (2019-21), Sam Harris (2018-21), Peter LaJoy (2016-20) and McKade Webster (2015-17) played prep school hockey at Shattuck St. Mary's in Faribault, Minn. …  Rieger Lorenz was selected in the second round at No. 56 overall by the Minnesota Wild in the 2022 NHL Draft … DU's Kent Anderson, Matt Davis, Carter King and Lorenz and SCSU's Dylan Anhorn, Ethan Aucoin and Tyson Gross are all from Calgary, Alberta … Mason Reiners was a teammate of DU's Connor Caponi (2019-20) with the Waterloo Black Hawks … Broz played with Jack Peart with the USHL Fargo Force in 2020-21 … Freddie Halyk played with Ethan Aucoin with the AJHL Lloydminster Bobcats in 2021-22 … Dominic Basse played two seasons at Colorado College (2020-22).
 
PREVIOUS MEETING (MARCH 2, 2024): Then-No. 5 Denver used six different goal scorers and was led by a 36-save performance from goaltender Matt Davis to earn a 7-2 victory and weekend sweep of the No. 15 St. Cloud State Huskies at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center.  Denver won its season-high fourth straight road contest and earned its first road sweep of SCSU in more than 16 years. The last time DU won both games in St. Cloud was Dec. 7-8, 2007 when it had a pair of 3-2 victories.  The victory also moved the Pioneers past the Huskies for sole possession of second place in the NCHC standings.  Denver also locked up home-ice advantage for the NCHC Quarterfinals in two weeks' time.  Davis was rock solid all night in the DU crease, saving each of the first 31 shots he faced.  Senior McKade Webster, juniors Sean Behrens and Jack Devine, sophomores Tristan Lemyre and Aidan Thompson, and freshman Alex Weiermair all netted goals in the series finale.
 
HOBEY BAKER AWARD FINALIST: Junior forward Jack Devine was named on Wednesday a top-10 finalist for the 2024 Hobey Baker Award, given annually to the top men's college hockey player in the country.  A second round of fan voting is underway and takes into account a percentage of the total ballot.  Three Hobey Hat Trick finalists will be named on April 4, and the award will be presented on April 12 at the Frozen Four.
 
Devine, junior forward Massimo Rizzo and freshman defenseman Zeev Buium were Denver's three nominees for this year's awards.  The Pioneers trio were among 17 players from the NCHC and 84 nationally up for his year's honor.
 
PIONEERS IN THE POLLS: Denver stayed at No. 3 in both nationals polls after the latest USCHO.com and USA Hockey/The Rink Live rankings were released on Monday.  DU is at its highest ranking since previously being at No. 3 in each poll on Nov. 27.  The Pioneers are No. 4 in the Pairwise Rankings, which determines the NCAA Tournament field.
 
The NCHC's six ranked teams are tied for the most among all conferences with Hockey East, and its five schools in the top 15 lead all leagues.  The other conference squads in the polls are North Dakota at No. 4/4, Omaha at No. 11/11, Colorado College at No. 12/13, Western Michigan at No. 15/15 and St. Cloud State at No. 17/17.
 
EVERY NIGHT: Seven Denver players skated in all 38 games this season: senior forward Connor Caponi, junior defenseman Sean Behrens, junior forward Jack Devine, sophomore forwards Rieger Lorenz, Aidan Thompson and Jared Wright, and freshman defenseman Boston Buckberger.
 
AND THE AWARD GOES TO: The Pioneers are finalists for seven end-of-season awards from the NCHC, which will be announced at the awards celebration on Thursday, March 21 prior to the Frozen Faceoff in St. Paul, Minnesota.

• Player of the Year: Jack Devine
• Coach of the Year: David Carle
• Rookie of the Year: Zeev Buium
• Forward of the Year: Jack Devine
• Offensive Defenseman of the Year: Shai Buium & Zeev Buium
• Defensive Defenseman of the Year: Sean Behrens & Shai Buium
• Defensive Forward of the Year: Carter King

PIONEERS ON THE ALL-NCHC TEAM: Five Denver players were recognized with All-Conference honors, as forward Jack Devine and defenseman Zeev Buium were named to the First Team, forward Massimo Rizzo and defenseman Shai Buium were selected to the Second Team and defenseman Sean Behrens was chosen as an Honorable Mention.  This is the second time that Rizzo has been recognized on the All-NCHC Team, while the rest of the Pioneers are first-time recipients.
 
DU's two first-team members tied Colorado College for the most and its five total honorees were the second most among all schools.  The Pioneers' four first and second-team players were the most in the NCHC.
 
NO-BRAINER ALL-ROOKIE TEAM: Freshmen Zeev Buium and Miko Matikka were named the only unanimous selections to the NCHC All-Rookie Team by earning 15 first-team votes each.  The Pioneers were the only program with multiple players on the freshmen squad.  Buium is among the freshmen leaders in scoring and led all NCHC defensemen and is second overall with 31 points in 24 conference games.  Matikka's 11 goals in NCHC games were the tied for the most for rookies while his 20 points in 23 outings were first among first-year forwards.
 
MAGNESS MADNESS: The Pioneers set a home attendance record during the 2023-24 campaign by averaging 6,130 fans at Magness Arena across 20 games, besting their previous high mark of 6,022 over the course of 24 contests in 2006-07.  DU's average attendance last season at Magness Arena (2022-23) was 5,788 (23 games), which at the time was the second-highest for the team since the building first opened for the 1999-2000 season. 
 
Denver had a sold-out crowd of 7,033 for its regular-season finale against Colorado College on March 9 for the highest-attended hockey game at Magness Arena in program history.  DU had set its last high mark for attendance in its previous game against CC on Nov. 3 at Magness with a crowd of 7,021.
 
NATIONAL LEADERBOARD

• Jack Devine is third in the nation in goals (27) and fourth in points (54).
• Massimo Rizzo is eighth in the country in assists (34) and is tied for 16th in points (44).
• Zeev Buium is seventh among all freshmen and is tied for first among all defensemen in the nation in points (44); tied for 16th overall in scoring.  His 35 assists are tied for fifth in the NCAA, second-highest among all D-men and tied for the second-most by a freshman.
• Miko Matikka is tied for ninth among all freshmen in the nation with 16 goals.
• Carter King is tied for the NCAA with four short-handed goals this season.

PIONEERING OFFENSE: Denver led the country in offense during the regular season, averaging 4.89 goals per game.  Boston College was second at 4.38 goals per contest.  The Pioneers ranked third in the NCAA in scoring margin, winning by 1.83 goals per game; Quinnipiac was first at 2.26 goals and Boston College was second at 2.18 goals.  The Pios have tallied six or more goals in 12 games this season, their most in a single campaign since also have 12 such contests in 1987-88.  The last time DU had 13 games with six or more markers was in 1984-85.
 
DU also led the nation in shooting percentage at 15.2% during the regular season, with Boston College being the next closet team at 13.8%.  On special teams, the Pios had the 12th-best power play at 24.0% and scored the sixth-most man-advantage goals in the NCAA (36).
 
TRENDS: Denver is...

• 24-2-2 when scoring four or more goals
• 22-0-0 when holding an opponent to three goals or fewer
• 11-4-2 when the opponent scores first and 15-4-1 when scoring first
• 14-1-1 when leading after the first & 23-1-2 when leading after the second
• 19-3-3 when outshooting an opponent
• 8-1-0 following a loss
• 15-2-1 on Saturdays

MONTH BY MONTH: Denver is 5-1-0 in March, guaranteeing its 22nd straight month where it has posted at least a .500 record dating back to January 2021.  The Pios had their run of posting a greater-than .500 mark for 15 straight months end in December 2023 after going 2-2-0 (streak began October 2021).
 
WELCOME TO THE CENTURY CLUB: Junior Jack Devine became the 103rd Pioneer to reach 100 career points by scoring just 16 seconds into the March 8 game at Colorado College (109 games).  He is the second Denver player to reach the century mark, joining junior Massimo Rizzo who did it on Nov. 11 at Arizona State.  The forwards are two of just eight players to reach 100 career points in the last 10 years, and Rizzo was the first DU player to reach the milestone since Cole Guttman on Jan. 22, 2022 vs. Colorado College.
 
Rizzo recorded 100 points in just 87 games, the second-quickest Pioneer in the last decade.  Only Dylan Gambrell made the century club sooner, doing so in his 86th contest in 2018.  Rizzo's 1.20 points-per-game average is the most among DU 100-point getters in the modern era (since 1990) and tied for 31st all-time among club members.