Defense has been the Denver Pioneers hockey team's calling card through the opening weeks of the 2025-26 campaign.
 
DU ranks fourth in the NCAA at 1.7 goals against per game and is coming off a weekend where it allowed just three total goals in a series sweep against rival Colorado College. The Pioneers didn't allow the Tigers to turn on the red light through the first two periods of either game, as they won 2-1 in overtime on Friday in Denver and 3-2 on Saturday in Colorado Springs.
 
"[Friday] night we were real happy with our effort and the shots were even, and we won the game and came from behind," said Richard and Kitzia Goodman Hockey Head Coach David Carle following Saturday's victory at Ed Robson Arena. "And tonight it just feels a little different because it felt like we were in the trenches all night together, battling and sacrificing for one another."
 
Denver has allowed one goal or fewer in seven of its 12 contests this season, registering three shutouts in that time. The previous weekend on Nov. 7-8, DU swept defending-national champion Western Michigan on the road in a tough environment at Lawson Arena, winning 3-1 and 6-3. Denver and WMU tied for the most goals per game in the NCAA last year at 4.0.
 
The Pioneers are riding a season-long, five-game winning streak, the program's longest since winning each of the first 12 contests to start last season .
 
"Just being dialed in and trusting our game plan and sticking to our process, so the things that needed to be done [were done] and playing a certain way," Carle said of his team's defense after the WMU series. "I think our whole group—all six of them—and you know the game is connected so much, so a lot of our forwards are part of that too, as far as clearing out second chances and playing a big factor in our rush defense and trying to slow them down in one of the best elements of their (WMU) game."
 
It probably shouldn't have been a surprise that the Pioneers' defense is so strong through the early-going with the team returning seven-of-eight blueliners from a year ago.
 
The lone newcomer of the D-corps is freshman Eric Jamieson, and he hasn't looked out of place on either side of the ice. He scored his fifth goal of the season on Saturday at Colorado College and ranks second overall on the Pioneers in tallies.
 
"it's nice to see his shot and his own offensive instincts come through here as his game grows and matures," Carle noted of the 6-foot-2, 204-pound defender after the Feb. 7 contest at Western Michigan. "Him and Garrett Brown have found some nice little chemistry here the last couple of games. Eric's got a great shot, and we've seen that a few times this year."
 
And if opposing teams have been able to break through DU's defensive structure, another freshman in goaltender Quinten Miller has shined as the team's last line of resistance.
 
Miller has started now nine straight games and has been a key reason for Denver's current win streak. He ranks seventh in the NCAA with a 1.58 goals-against average, fifth in save percentage (.942) and tied for fourth with two shutouts.
 
The Montreal, Quebec, native registered back-to-back, career-high performances at Western Michigan, stopping 35-of-36 shots on Nov. 7 and 41-of-44 shots on Nov. 8. He posted a 38-save outing on Saturday at CC, including stopping a season-high 19 shots in the third period as the Tigers were attempting their own comeback on home ice.
 
"He's doing real good, just a rock back there and the foundation of our team," said defenseman Boston Buckberger. "Just knowing that we have a guy back there that can bail us out when we need."
 
Denver's defense might have its toughest test of the season this weekend as the squad travels to play at Arizona State. The Sun Devils have traditionally owned a high-flying attack that can capitalize on mistakes quickly in their offensive zone, especially on the power play.
 
The two teams have played some wild, high-scoring affairs in recent years, including both games last year in Tempe being decided in overtime—a 5-4 win and 6-5 loss for DU. Even the series at Mullett Arena in 2023-24 featured back-and-forth firepower as those games ended in a 6-5 OT loss and 8-4 victory for the Pioneers.
 
DU's defense is ready for the challenge.
 
"We always want to continue to learn and grow," said blueliner and senior captain Kent Anderson. "Watch the video from these games (against Colorado College) and get better for next week, and hopefully keep rolling next weekend."
 
BUCKBERGER GOES BACK-TO-BACK
 
Boston Buckberger was still searching for his first goal of the year going into last week's games at Colorado College. He broke out of season-opening drought in a big way.
 
He scored the overtime-winner, the first of his career, on Friday after assisting on Eric Pohlkamp's tying marker minutes earlier, and the alternate captain netted the eventual game-winning goal on Saturday on the power play late in the third period.
 
"It felt great honestly. I felt snake-bitten throughout the year, for the first month or so," Buckberger said after the Friday contest. "For that one to fall was really nice. To get the team win was even better."
 
They weren't only the first goals of the season for the Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, native but also marked the first time in his collegiate career that he tallied in back-to-back games. Teammate and fellow defenseman Cale Ashcroft was the last Pioneer to score the game-winning marker in consecutive regular season contests, as he did it on Dec. 14, 2024 vs. Colorado College and Jan. 3, 2025 at Maine.
 
Now, it wasn't as if Buckberger wasn't producing offensively before the pucks finally started to hit twine for him. His eight assists on the year are tied for the most on the team, and he holds his usual spot on the top of the squad's plus-minus list with a plus-14 rating. His overall plus-76 rating is the highest among all active players in the NCAA.
 
POHLKAMP'S HISTRORIC STREAK
 
Eric Pohlkamp is known for his big shot, but for him to find the back as consistently as he has in recent weeks has been an impressive feat.
 
The Baxter, Minnesota, native scored in four straight games—beginning on Nov. 1 against Alaska Anchorage and going through Friday's contest against Colorado College—for the longest goal streak of his collegiate career. It was also the longest by a Pioneer defenseman since at least the start of the 2002-03 season and the longest in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference since the league was established ahead of the 2013-14 campaign.
 
Pohlkamp has been among the Pioneers' leading scorers all season long, and he currently paces all players on the squad with 13 points. He is also first with eight goals, which is first among NCAA defensemen and tied for ninth overall for all skaters.
 
MORE NOTABLES

• The Pioneers have posted back-to-back series sweeps for the first time this season.
• Denver picked up two NCHC weekly awards for the second straight week as Boston Buckberger was named Defenseman of the Week and Quentin Miller was selected as Goaltender of the Week. 
• Quentin Miller faced and saved his first career penalty shot by Tomas Mrsic in the first period on Friday.
• Rieger Lorenz (1g/3a) is on a three-game assist streak, tied for the longest of the season for a Denver skater.
• Boston Buckberger (2g/2a) and Sam Harris (1g/2a) are also on three-game point streaks.
• DU owns a 7-2-0 all-time mark at Ed Robson Arena against Colorado College.
• Denver only needs one point in the Feb. 6-7 series vs. Colorado College to secure the Gold Pan trophy for a seventh straight season.
• DU and CC have faced off 350 times in their history in the most-played rivalry in college hockey history.
• The Pios are on a three-game road winning streak and haven't lost in regulation in six straight games dating back to Oct. 31 (5-1-0).
• DU is now 1-1-1 in overtime this season as Friday's OT win marked its first since Feb. 7, 2025 at Arizona State (5-4).
• Hagen Burrows appeared in his 50th career game last Friday.
• Samu Salminen won 13 faceoffs on Saturday, tying a season high and marking the third time this season that he has won that many draws in a game.

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