DENVER – The No. 4 University of Denver hockey team returns to the state of Colorado this weekend as the Pioneers take on the No. 17 Colorado College Tigers in a home-and-home NCHC series. 
 
Friday's Teddy Bear Toss game is scheduled for 7 p.m. MT at Magness Arena. On Saturday, the Pios will travel to Colorado Springs to face the Tigers for a 6 p.m. MT puck drop at Ed Robson Arena. Both games will be broadcast on NCHC.tv, and Friday's contest will also be televised regionally on Altitude Sports. 
 
Denver has a 6-3-1 overall record and is 2-0-0 to start NCHC play after road sweep against then-No. 4 Western Michigan, the reigning national champions. On Friday, the Pios netted three unanswered goals in the third to take the 3-1 win. Kieran Cebrian opened the scoring for Denver before Eric Jamieson gave the squad its first lead of the night minutes later. Eric Pohlkamp scored an empty-netter, putting the nail in the coffin with less than 40 seconds left in the game. Goaltender Quentin Miller made 35 saves, with 15 of which came in the first period of the win.
 
Denver conquered Western Michigan the following day, 6-3, with six different Pioneers earning a tally. Three of the six goals came early in the first, with Kristian Epperson burying the first goal less than two minutes into the game. Rieger Lorenz, Pohlkamp, and James Reeder earned helpers in the contest in addition to their own goals. Samu Salminen had two assists in the win, and Miller stopped a career-high 41 shots for the Pioneers. 
 
Colorado College enters the series with DU with a 6-3-1 overall record as well after its two-game series at Arizona State last weekend. On Friday, the Tigers drew ASU 3-3 after overtime, but the Sun Devils earned the extra conference point by taking the shooting. CC scored its goals in the first period of the game and outshot Arizona 37-27 overall. On Saturday, the Tigers earned their redemption as they defeated Arizona State 3-1, despite ASU holding a 36-35 edge in shots on goal.
 
The Pioneers and the Tigers are longtime foes, having played 348 games against one another, the most games between opponents in college hockey history—Michigan and Michigan State have faced off 347 times. Denver holds the all-time series at 202-125-21, including a mark of 117-55-11 in Denver and 78-66-10 in Colorado Springs in a series that dates back to Jan. 6, 1950. The Pioneers won 22 straight games over the Tigers from 1959-1963 and defeated CC in the 2005 Frozen Four Semifinals en route to their second-straight national title
 
Denver went 5-2-0 overall against Colorado College in 2024-25, including 3-1-0 in the regular season to retain the Gold Pan trophy for a sixth-straight year. The teams faced off in March in the NCHC Quarterfinals, with CC winning the first game at Magness Arena before DU won the next two to secure its trip to the Frozen Faceoff. In Game 3 on March 16, captain Carter King scored twice while Cale Ashcroft and Jack Devine earned three assists a piece in a 9-2 victory, marking the most goals the Pioneers have scored in a conference tournament contest since beating Michigan State 9-3 in the WCHA Second Round on March 11, 1972.

LAST TIME OUT: The Pioneers picked up a road sweep at the then-No. 4 ranked and defending national champion Western Michigan Broncos, winning 3-1 on Friday and 6-3 on Saturday.  Last weekend was the first meeting between the squads since they faced off in the NCAA Frozen Four Semifinals on April 10 in St. Louis, Missouri.
 
Kieran Cebrian tied the game at 6:45 of the third period on Friday and Eric Jamieson scored his first game-winning goal less than three minutes later.  Eric Pohlkamp added an empty-net marker on Friday before contributing a goal and an assist on Saturday.
 
Denver jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first period in the series finale, which included Rieger Lorenz netting short-handed goal and later adding an assist as well.  The Pios had six different goal scorers and 12 different players register a point, with James Reeder (1g/1a) and Samu Salminen (0g/2a) joining Pohlkamp and Lorenz with multi-point outings.  Goaltender Quentin Miller made 35 saves on Friday and stopped 41 shots on Saturday.
 
WEEKLY AWARDS: Denver's Eric Pohlkamp earned his second NCHC weekly award of the year on Tuesday as he was named Defenseman of the Week, while goaltender Quentin Miller picked up his first career accolade by being named Rookie of the Week.
 
For Pohlkamp, this is his fifth career weekly D-man award from the NCHC after earning the honor three times in 2024-25 and once earlier this season on Oct. 14.
 
PK'S POINTS: Defenseman Eric Pohlkamp leads the Pioneers in scoring with 12 points and also paces the program in overall goals (7), game-winning goals (2), shots (43) and penalty minutes (17) while ranking second in plus/minus rating (+12).
 
The junior has scored in each of the last three games (3g/2a), his longest goal streak as a Pioneer and tied for the longest of his collegiate career as he accomplished it twice as a freshman at Bemidji State (Nov. 11-18, 2023 and March 8-16, 2024).  His seven total goals lead all NCAA defensemen and are tied for 11th overall, while his 12 points rank third among blueliners in the country.
 
Pohlkamp owns four multi-point games this season, which included his first career hat trick on Oct. 11 vs. Bentley.
 
MILLER TIME: Freshman goaltender Quentin Miller posted career highs in both games last weekend at Western Michigan and owns a 1.60 goals-against average, .938 save percentage and two shutouts through eight games this season.  He stopped 35-of-36 shots on Friday before making 41 saves on 44 shots faced on Saturday. His 16 saves in the second period on Saturday were the most in a single frame this season for Denver.
 
The Montreal, Quebec, native has made seven consecutive starts and hasn't lost in regulation in the past four games (3-1-0).  He is on his second, three-game unbeaten streak of the season after beginning his collegiate career by going 2-0-1 in games on Oct. 10 at Air Force (1-1 tie), Oct. 18 at Lindenwood (4-0 win) and Oct. 24 at Boston College (7-3 win), which included posting an overall shutout streak of 117:17.  Magnus Chrona was the last DU netminder to go unbeaten in his first three career starts, as he won his first seven outings to begin the 2019-20 campaign.
 
Miller's first career victory came in a 19-save shutout and a 4-0 victory at Lindenwood on Oct. 18.  Posting a shutout for your first NCAA win hasn't been an uncommon occurrence in recent years for the Pioneers, as Matt Davis recorded a clean sheet in his first career start on Oct. 16, 2021 vs. Air Force (25 saves) and Freddie Halyk did the same in his win against Air Force on Oct. 28, 2023 (24 saves).
 
DOMINANT DEFENSE: The Pioneers rank fifth in the nation and lead the NCHC by allowing 1.7 goals against per game through the first 10 contests.  DU has held opponents to one goal or fewer in six games this year.
 
Denver ranks fourth in the country in scoring margin at 2.2, as the team's 3.9 goals for per game are fifth-highest in the NCAA.
 
The Pioneers blocked 12 shots on Friday in a 3-1 win at Western Michigan, tied for the most in a single game this season (Oct. 18 at Lindenwood).
 
PENALTY KILL DELIVERING: Denver killed off 6-of-8 penalties last weekend against Western Michigan and had its second stretch of the season where it killed off 13 straight infraction, doing so from Oct. 31-Nov. 8 (also from Oct. 10-25).
 
The Pioneers presently rank tied for seventh in the nation on the penalty kill at 89.7 percent.  The team finished with an 81.7-percent success rate on the kill last season and killed off 17 straight penalties across five games from Oct. 5-25, 2024.
 
NOTABLES

• Denver improved to 29-16-2 all-time against Western Michigan and 11-11 at Lawson Arena, including a 6-2-0 mark in the last eight matchups in Kalamazoo.
• DU is on a season-long three-game winning streak and has not lost in regulation in its last four contests (3-1-0) dating back to Oct. 31 vs. Alaska Anchorage.
• Denver earned its first series sweep since March 7-8 against Colorado College and its first on the road since Feb. 21-22 at Miami.
• The Pioneers have won each of their last four conference openers dating back to 2022-23.
• Eric Jamieson scored in back-to-back games for the first time in his career on Nov. 1 vs. UAA and Nov. 7 vs. WMU and recorded his first career game-winning goal on Friday at Western.
• Rieger Lorenz scored on Saturday his third career short-handed goal and DU's second of the season (Eric Pohlkamp, Oct. 10 vs. Bentley).
• Eric Pohlkamp's goal at 1:08 of the second period on Saturday was the fastest to begin a period this season for the Pioneers.
• Kieran Cebrian has three goals in the last four games and has scored in back-to-back games for the second time in his career (Feb. 8-14, 2025).
• Boston Buckberger recorded his 50th career assist on Saturday.
• DU killed off 13 straight penalties dating back Oct. 31 vs. Alaska Anchorage before WMU scored with the man advantage late in the second period on Saturday. The 13 straight kills tied a season long (Oct. 10-31).
• Boston Buckberger, Eric Pohlkamp and James Reeder all finished Saturday's contest with a +4 plus/minus ratings, tied for the most in a game this season by a Pioneer (Buckberger, Oct. 24 at Boston College).
• Samu Salminen won 13 faceoffs on Saturday to match a season high and also tied for the most in a game this year.
• Brendan McMorrow had four shots on goal on Saturday to set a season high.

BATTLE FOR THE GOLD PAN: Denver has won the Gold Pan trophy over Colorado College in each of the last six seasons and went 3-1-0 in the four-game regular season series in 2024-25.  Each team won in its own barn to split the initial home-and-home set on Dec. 13-14 before DU swept the series to close the regular season on March 7-8.  The Pios finished 5-2-0 overall against the Tigers after the squads met in a three-game quarterfinal series during the NCHC Playoffs.
 
In circulation since 1993-94, the Gold Pan is given to the team that wins the season series between the in-state rivals.  DU has now captured it 19 times compared to CC's 13 and only needs to split the four-game series this season to retain the hardware for another year.
 
The Denver and Colorado College rivalry is the most-played series in college hockey history, as the programs have faced off in 348 all-times games and surpassed Michigan and Michigan State for the top spot last season (347 games).
 
HISTORY VS. COLORADO COLLEGE: Denver and Colorado College is the most-played rivalry in college hockey history with 348 matchups, one more than Michigan-Michigan State (347). The Pioneers lead the all-time series at 202-125-21. DU went 5-2-0 in the seven matchups last season, including going 3-1-0 during the regular season to win the Gold Pan trophy for the sixth-straight year.  The teams faced off in five games in a row from March 7-16—regular-season finale and NCHC Quarterfinals—marking the first time in the 76-year history of the rivalry that they had played that many games in a row.  The Pioneers won the best-of-three series 2-1 after dropping Game 1, and their 9-2 win in Game 3 marked their most goals scored in a conference tournament matchup since defeating Michigan State 9-3 on 9-3 on March 11, 1972 in the WCHA Second Round.  The Pioneers are 7-3-0 in the last 10 all-time meetings and hold an 11-4-0 edge in the last 15 and 23-5-1 in the past 29 matchups since the start of 2018-19. At home, the Pios have a 117-55-11 mark against the Tigers and had won 12 straight "home" outings that date back to Dec. 13, 2019 prior to losing Game 1 in last year's quarterfinals.  The Pioneers own a 78-66-10 record in road games and is 169-98-21 all-time against the Tigers in conference play.  The teams have met just once in the NCAA Tournament, with DU winning 6-2 in the 2005 Frozen Four Semifinals in Columbus, Ohio, and went on to win the national title two days later over rival North Dakota.
 
PREVIOUS MEETING (MARCH 16, 2025): No. 6-ranked Denver hockey team booked its ticket to St. Paul and the NCHC Frozen Faceoff semifinals by defeating the Colorado College Tigers 9-2 in Game 3 of the conference quarterfinals on Sunday night at Magness Arena.   DU came back and won the best-of-three series 2-1 against No. 6-seed CC after dropping Game 1 on Friday.  Sophomore defenseman Cale Ashcroft recorded a career high with three points—all assists—and senior Jack Devine joined his teammate with a trio of helpers as well. Overall, eight players left the game with multiple points and 15 skaters found themselves on the scoresheet at least once.  Senior goaltender Matt Davis showed up in his last game at Magness Arena, denying 20-of-22 shots that CC tried to get past him. Senior Carter King recorded two goals—one on the power play and the other shorthanded—to also honor his last night on the Pios' home ice.  Denver capitalized off 3-of-7 power plays and outshot Colorado College 33-25 overall.
 
CONNECTIONS: The Pioneers' Kyle Chyzowski and the Tigers' Tomas Mrsic are both from Surrey, British Columbia … DU's Kent Anderson, Eric Jamieson and Rieger Lorenz and CC's Jackson Unger are all from Calgary, Alberta … Garrett Brown and Philippe Blais-Savoie are both from San Jose, Calif. … Brown played with Gavin Lindberg with the USHL Waterloo Black Hawks at the end of the 2022-23 season … Denver's Kieran Cebrian (2020-2023) and Cale Ashcroft (2022-2023) were teammates with Drew Montgomery (2020-2023) and Philippe Blais-Savoie (2022-23) with the USHL Tri-City Storm … Mateo Mrsic was on the Chilliwack Chiefs at the same time as Brady Milburn (2021-2025) and Quentin Miller (2024-25) … Jake Fisher was a teammate with Merril Steenari during the Fargo Force's USHL Clark Cup championship season in 2023-24 … Boston Buckberger was a teammate with Klavs Veinbergs at the USHL Lincoln Stars in 2022-23 … Paxton Geisel was teammates on the Dubuque Fighting Saints with Max Burkholder (2021-2023), Fisher Scott (2022-23) and Riley Stuart (2021-2023) … Geisel played with Ryan Koering on USHL Muskegon Lumberjacks to start 2023-24 … CC has two players from Colorado on its roster in Kaiden Mbereko (Aspen) and Fisher Scott (Carbondale), while DU also has two in Kieran Cebrian (Denver) and Payton Nelson (Centennial) … Denver's Sam Harris (San Diego) and Colorado College's Jordan Brisson (Manhattan Beach) and Merril Steenari (Aliso Viejo) are all from Southern California.
 
SCOUTING THE TIGERS: Colorado College is 6-3-1 overall this season and sports a 1-2-1 record in conference play.  CC went 1-0-1 at Arizona State last weekend, tying the Sun Devils 3-3 on Friday before ASU earned the extra conference point in the shootout. On Saturday, Colorado College won 3-1 for its first NCHC victory of the year and end a three-game winless streak (0-2-1).  The Tigers are 2-3-0 at home this season, which included a season-opening 4-2 victory vs. then-No. 10 Connecticut on Oct. 3 and a 4-2 win against Air Force on Oct. 11 to win the Pikes Peak Trophy. Owen Beckner leads CC in scoring with 12 points (6g/6a) and is tied with Klavs Veinbergs (6g/3a) in goals with six. Colton Roberts and Brandon Lisowsky both paces the team in assists with five.  Senior goaltender Kaidan Mbereko has started all 10 games this season and owns a 6-3-1 record, 2.39 goals-against average and .913 save percentage.
 
HOME ICE ADVANTAGE: Denver is 74-16-5 in its last 95 contests at Magness Arena and sports an 81-20-6 record on the DU hilltop since the start of the 2019-20 campaign (107 games).  The Pioneers went 15-5-1 at home during the 2024-25 season, with wins in each of their first six games and going 8-3-1 in the 12 contests after the New Year.
 
ROAD WARRIORS: Denver is playing 10 of its first 14 games on the road and wrapped up a season-long, four-game road swing from Oct. 17-26 at Lindenwood, Boston College and Northeastern.  DU played five of its first six outings and will play 12 of its first 19 contests away from Magness Arena going into the Holiday Break in December.
 
The Pioneers open 2026 with two, season-long, four-game homestands in the month of January and will host at Magness for nine-of-12 contests from Jan. 2-Feb. 7.
 
PIONEERS IN THE POLLS: Denver moved up in the weekly polls to No. 4 in each after being at No. 9 in last week's USCHO.com ranking and 11th on the USA Hockey list.  The Pioneers began the year at No. 4 on each preseason list.
 
The NCHC's five ranked teams are the second-most in in each poll and its four in the top 10 are tied for the most with the Big Ten. Minnesota Duluth leads the conference at No. 3/3, while North Dakota at No. 6/6, Western Michigan at No. 9/8 and Colorado College at No. 17/17 are behind Denver in the rankings. The other four league members—Arizona State, Miami, Omaha and St. Cloud State—also received votes in at least one of the polls.
 
SHOTS ON SHOTS ON SHOTS: Denver fired 49 shots on goal in each game of the series against Alaska Anchorage on Oct. 31-Nov. 1 and finished with a combined total of 98-37.  It was the most shots by DU in a two-game series since outshooting Arizona State 99-40 on Dec. 2-3, 2022.
 
The Pioneers presently rank second in the country at 40.2 shots per game and has fired 40 or more shots in four contests so far this season.  Union leads the nation at 43.0 shots per outing.
 
DU had a 35-14 edge in shots on goal at Northeastern on Oct. 25 and only allowed two shots on goal in the first period, the fewest in a stanza since also allowing just two shots on goal in the second on Oct. 5, 2024 at Alaska Anchorage.  On Oct. 18, Denver outshot Lindenwood 49-19, which included by a 19-4 margin in the second period and the plus-15 shot differential was the highest for a single stanza this season. 
 
The Pioneers began the season on Oct. 10 by outshooting the Air Force Falcons 59-24, the team's most shots on goal since firing 66 against Lake Superior State on Oct. 20, 2017.  Denver's plus-35 shot differential was its highest since having a plus-36 differential on Dec. 2, 2022 vs. ASU (56-20), and the 22 shots on goal in the third were its most in a single frame since having 23 in the second period on Nov 3, 2023 vs. Colorado College.
 
Denver's season high for shots on goal last season were 46 on Nov. 8, 2024 vs. Lindenwood, and the previous time the Pios had 50 or more shots on net was when they had 56 on Dec. 2, 2022 vs. Arizona State.
 
COACH CARLE CLIMBING THE CHARTS: Head coach David Carle won his 183rd career game on Nov. 1 against Alaska Anchorage to surpass Ralph Backstrom (182) for sole possession of third place on the program's all-time wins list.  Only the legendary Murray Armstrong (460) and George Gwozdecky (443) have more victories than Carle in school history.
 
Overall, Carle owns a .693 career winning percentage—the highest mark by any coach in program history and entered the season with the second-highest (.694) among active NCAA coaches (Boston College's Greg Brown, .697).
 
In 2024-25, Carle won his 150th career game on Oct. 6, 2024 in his hometown against the Alaska Anchorage Seawolves and coached in his 250th contest on Jan. 25, 2025 at Minnesota Duluth.  The Anchorage, Alaska, native reached the 150-win mark in his 228th game behind the bench (seventh season), the second-fastest among DU coaches with only Armstrong doing it faster in 216 contests (seventh season).  Additionally, his .696 winning percentage through his first 250 games (166-68-16) was the second-best mark among all coaches behind only Armstrong's .728.
 
PIONEERS HEADING TO SWITZERLAND FOR SPENGLER CUP: Defenseman Eric Pohlkamp was named on Oct. 16 to the U.S. Collegiate Select team that will compete at the 2025 Spengler Cup in Davos, Switzerland, from Dec. 26-31.  The junior was among the first 10 players added to the roster, which will feature 25 student-athletes that will represent NCAA hockey at the prestigious international tournament.
 
All returning First and Second Team All-Americans received an automatic invitation to the team.  The remainder of the roster, which will include representation from all six conferences, will be constructed by the USCS coaching staff and organizing committee, with guidance from select NHL scouts.
 
Pohlkamp won't be the only Pioneer at the tournament, as Associate Director of Sports Medicine Aaron Leu was named as the head athletic trainer of the U.S. College Team over the summer.  Leu is in his 22nd year at DU and has worked with the men's ice hockey program as the head athletic trainer for 21 of those seasons.
 
This will be the second time an American-based select team has taken part in the Spengler Cup, following a U.S. squad that won the tournament in 1988.  Two Denver players have suited up for Team Canada at the Spengler Cup in recent years while a student-athlete, with Massimo Rizzo doing so in 2023 and Ian Mitchell in 2019.
 
BALL ARENA SHOWDOWN THIS MONTH: The University of Denver will host the Minnesota Golden Gophers at NHL's Ball Arena on Saturday, Nov. 29 at 7 p.m. MT in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game.  The initial announcement of the Pioneers hosting was on April 15, 2024 and the exact date was finalized on July 16, 2025 following the release of the Colorado Avalanche NHL schedule.
 
The DU hockey program will serve as the host of the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game for the third time in its history and will be playing in the contest for the fourth time.  DU previously hosted the games at Magness Arena on Oct. 11, 2008 vs. Notre Dame (5-2 win) and Dec. 29, 2012 vs. Boston University (6-0 win).  The Pioneers previously played Minnesota in the USHHOF Game on Oct. 9, 2004 at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn. (5-2 loss).
 
Denver will be playing its second-ever game at Ball Arena since the building first opened in 1999.  The Pioneers defeated in-state rival Colorado College 2-0 in their first regular-season game at the arena on Jan. 27, 2023 in front of a crowd of 17,952—the highest attended indoor hockey game in the state of Colorado in DU history.
 
It will be a double-header of hockey at Ball Arena on Nov. 29 as the Avalanche hosts the Montreal Canadiens earlier that day at 1 p.m. MT.
 
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