U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. – The No. 5 University of Denver hockey team fired 59 shots on goal in the season opener on Friday night and freshman
Clarke Caswell scored the tying goal in the final five minutes of the third period in a 1-1 tie against the Air Force Falcons at Cadet Ice Arena.
The game remained scoreless through the five-minute, 3-on-3 overtime before rookie
Kyle Chyzowski and junior
Sam Harris each tallied in the shootout for DU to take the end-of-game competition 2-1, but the result will officially go down as a tie for both teams.
The Pioneers return to Denver on Saturday and host the Bentley University Falcons in their home opener. Game time is at 7 p.m. MT and it will be broadcast on NCHC.tv.
DU outshot AFA 59-24 overall, with the Pios holding an 18-8 advantage in the first period, 15-7 in the second and 22-8 in the third. They had four shots in overtime, including
Eric Pohlkamp hitting the post in the final minute.
Pioneers freshman goaltender
Quentin Miller made his NCAA debut in net and made 23 saves, including all 16 he faced in the final 45 minutes.
Will Dawson scored for the Falcons with 3:16 remaining in the first period and the game stayed that way until the puck redirected off Caswell's skate and across the goal line with 4:07 to play in the third frame.
Both Chyzowski and Harris tallied in the shootout on backhand shots, with Harris' just slipping his past the goal line before Air Force goalie Carter Clafton could get his pad on it to close out the game. Clafton finished with 58 saves.
Pohlkamp and
James Reeder had helpers on Caswell's first career goal.
The last time DU tied its season opener was Oct. 13, 2017 when it drew Notre Dame 2-2.
UP NEXT: Denver hosts Bentley on Saturday at Magness Arena before beginning a four-game road swing with contests at Lindenwood (Oct. 17-18), Boston College (Oct. 24) and Northeastern (Oct. 25).
POSTGAME NOTES
- Freshman Clarke Caswell, Kyle Chyzowski, Kristian Epperson, Eric Jamieson, Brady Milburn, Quentin Miller, Payton Nelson and Reid Varkonyi all made their collegiate debuts.
- Denver was facing Air Force for the first time since Oct. 28, 2023 at Magness Arena and last visited the Academy.
- The Pioneers went 13-1-0 last season against non-conference opponents.
- DU was starting the season on the road for the third-straight season and had won each of the last four season openers.
- The Pios are now 44-25-8 all-time in season openers and is unbeaten in the past five (4-0-1).
- Denver is now unbeaten in its last eight games against Air Force (7-0-1) and is 41-4-2 all-time against the Falcons and 14-2-2 at Cadet Ice Arena.
- DU had its shutout streak over Air Force end at 176:45, stretching across four games and dating back to the Oct. 15, 2021 at the Academy.
- The Pioneers' 59 shots on goal was its most since firing 66 on Lake Superior State on Oct. 20, 2017. DU's season high for shots on goal last year were 46 on Nov. 8 vs. Lindenwood.
- Denver's 22 shots on goal in the third period were its most in a frame since having 23 in the second period on Nov 3, 2023 against Colorado College. DU's season high for shots in a period last year was 20 on March 2 against St. Cloud State.
GOAL SUMMARY
1st Period
16:44 AFA (0-1) – Will Dawson scored with a snapshot from the top of the left circle off a pass by Nick Sajevic from below the goal line.
2nd Period
No Scoring
3rd Period
15:53 DU (1-1) – The puck went off
Clarke Caswell's skate during a scramble around the goalmouth. Air Force challenged for goalie interference but was unsuccessful.
Overtime
No Scoring
Shootout
R1 – AFA Nick Sajevic, saved
R1 – DU
Clarke Caswell, saved
R2 – AFA Brendan Gibbons, scored
R2 – DU
Kyle Chyzowski, scored
R3 – AFA Cole Christian, saved
R3 – DU
Sam Harris, scored
QUOTABLES
Richard and Kitzia Goodman Hockey Head Coach David Carle
On the shot total: "It was a lot of volume for us. We had 18 in the first, 15 in the second, 22 in the third, and he (AFA goalie) didn't let up in overtime either. I appreciate our guys, he was hard to solve, obviously. You know, we don't get the first goal and then we're chasing the game throughout the second and the third, and I thought the kills at the end of the first – especially the 5-on-3 –
Samu Salminen winning those three faceoffs to essentially kill off the 5-on-3 was critical in the hockey game. You look at the data and the odds once we killed that, your odds of winning go up tremendously if you can kill off an extended 5-on-3. It took all the way until 45 minutes later to tie the game – ugly goal then obviously goes into a shootout. It goes in as a tie officially, but good for the guys going out and getting the shootout victory. Tough environment for 10 freshmen to play in. I'm really proud of how we just continued to play through because they (Air Force) don't make things easy on you.
On faceoff success: You look at [Kyle] Chyzowski's 13-7 on the night, [Clarke] Caswell's 12-8 – two freshmen leading the way and obviously there's going to be nights where they're not going to do that. But we won the faceoff battle, I thought we were able to generate some looks on some draws and create some possession for ourselves. Faceoffs are a big part of it with this game and with the possession battle always."
On Clarke Caswell's first NCAA goal against a strong goalie: "I mean for the 59 shots, I think we yes, he made some really nice saves. Did we make life as hard as we could on him? Probably not. He saw a lot of pucks. Part of that is them and how hard they defend the net for him. That's why it is such a good team for us to play. To have to try to drive through those block-outs and get to the net-front. Obviously, we felt like it was going to be an ugly goal, and it certainly was that. Just driving the net off of one faceoff and made some contact to the curves outside of the paint and fortunate that we it went in, I'm sure Air Force doesn't."
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