ST. CLOUD, Minn. – The No. 6 University of Denver hockey team travels to Minnesota this weekend to take on the St. Cloud State Huskies in a two-game NCHC showdown.
 
Friday's game from the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud is at 6 p.m. MT, while Saturday's start time is 5 p.m. MT. Both games will be broadcast on NCHC.tv.
 
Denver enters this weekend with an overall record of 11-5-1, and the squad hasn't lost in regulation in its last 11 contests (8-3-0). The Pioneers lead the NCHC standings with a 7-1-0 record and 21 points, two ahead of second-place North Dakota. The Fighting Hawks have an additional loss and one fewer win.
 
The Pioneers swept the then-No. 19-ranked Miami RedHawks last weekend on home ice. Friday night's game ended in a 4-0 shutout for DU as freshman goaltender Quentin Miller stopped all 22 of Miami's shots. Rieger Lorenz opened the scoring for the Pios early in the first on a turnover in front of the RedHawks' net. Garrett Brown and Kyle Chyzowski added to Denver's lead in the second frame, and Eric Pohlkamp finished off scoring with a power-play goal from the point in the third period
 
The following night, the teams traded goals for most of the first two periods. Brendan McMorrow broke a 2-2 tie late in the second stanza with the game-winner off a short-handed, unassisted goal. McMorrow skated around three RedHawks players before burying the puck. Five different Pioneers scored, and five other players earned assists for Denver. Miller made 22 saves for the second-straight night.
 
St. Cloud's record stands at 7-9-0 overall this season and the Huskies are 2-6-0 in NCHC play. They are seventh in the NCHC standings with eight points. Last weekend, St. Cloud State was swept at home by North Dakota, losing 4-3 and 4-2. Last season, the Pios and the Huskies split in Denver in their only series, with DU winning 3-1 and losing 2-1 on Feb. 28 and March 1.
 
Denver has a 61-53-7 all-time record against St. Cloud State and a 24-24-4 mark at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center, one of the few remaining rinks in the NCAA with an Olympic-size ice sheet. The Pios last played in St. Cloud on March 1-2, 2024 and earned 6-2 and 7-2 wins for their first road sweep of the Huskies since Dec. 7-8, 2007. DU holds a winning record of 6-3-1 in the past 10 meetings with SCSU.
 
Friday's game marks the official halfway point of Denver's 35-game regular season, and this weekend will be the final contests for the Pioneers before they go on their holiday break. DU's next games will be after the New Year as it hosts Maine in a two-game series on Jan. 2-3 at Magness Arena.
   
ROLL PIOS: DU earned its first home sweep of the season and first since at Magness Arena since also sweeping Miami on Jan. 10-11, 2025.  Denver now owns three series sweeps this year, which includes winning both games at defending national champion Western Michigan on Nov. 7-8 and versus rival Colorado College on Nov. 14-15.
 
Overall, the Pioneers haven't lost in regulation in their last 11 games dating back to Oct. 31 against Alaska Anchorage (8-3-0).  Additionally, each of DU's five losses this season have come by one goal.  Of Denver's 17 defeats since the start of the 2024-25 season, 14 have been by one goal while two other games featured empty-net markers by the opponent.
CHYZOWSKI, MILLER HONORED: Two freshman earned weekly honors from the NCHC on Tuesday as forward Kyle Chyzowski was named Rookie of the Week and Quentin Miller was recognized as Goaltender of the Week.
 
This is Chyzowski's first career monthly award after he scored in both games vs. Miami, marking the first time this season he's tallied in consecutive contests and the second time he's registered points in back-to-back games.
 
Miller earned his third shutout of the season on Friday and stopped 44-of-46 shots faced in the weekend.  This is his third weekly accolade from the league after being named Rookie of the Week on Nov. 11 and Goaltender of the Week on Nov. 18.
 
IN POHL POSITION: Junior defenseman Eric Pohlkamp scored his 12th goal of the season on Friday vs. Miami, setting a new career high for a single season. He had 11 goals in both 2023-24 as a sophomore with Denver and 2022-23 as a freshman at Bemidji State.
 
The defenseman leads paces the Pioneers in both goals and points (19) and also leads the team in power-play goals (3), game-winning goals (2-tied) and shots (86), while ranking second in plus/minus rating (+19) and third in penalty minutes (19).  He leads all NCAA rear guards and ranks tied for fifth overall in goals, while his 19 points are tied for second-most by D-men in the nation behind Boston University's Cole Hutson (20).
 
SAM IS STREAKING: Junior Sam Harris had points in both games last week vs. Miami and is on a season-long eight game point streak (4g/5a).  He is one game shy of tying his career long of nine contests in a row with a point that he set from Oct. 18-Nov. 16, 2024 (8g/6a).
 
Overall, it is his third career point streak of at least eight games, as he also had an eight-game run last season from Jan. 11-Feb. 14, 2025 (7g/4a).
 
The forward scored twice on Nov. 22 at Arizona State for his first multi-goal outing of the season and seventh of his career.  Harris now owns 11 points on nine goals and two assists in nine all-time games against the ASU, the NCAA squad that is the closest to his hometown of San Diego, California.  He scored his first career hat trick on Feb. 8, 2025 at ASU.
 
GONE STREAKING: In addition to Sam Harris' eight-game point streak…

• Boston Buckberger is on a three-game point streak (2g/2a).
• Clarke Caswell is on a three-game assist/point streak (0g/4a), a career best.
• Eric Jamieson is on a three-game point streak (1g/2a), the longest of his career.
• Eric Pohlkamp is on a three-game point streak (2g/1a).
• Kyle Chyzowski has goals in back-to-back games for the first time in his career.

IT'S MILLER TIME: Goaltender Quentin Miller registered his third shutout of the season on Friday night by stopping all 22 shots faced from the RedHawks.
 
The Montreal, Quebec, native has made 14 consecutive starts and hasn't lost in regulation in the past 11 games (8-3-0).  He went on a personal-best six-game winning streak from Nov. 1-21 and registered career highs in both games at Western Michigan, stopping 35-of-36 shots on Nov. 7 and 41-of-44 pucks his way on Nov. 8.
 
He began his collegiate career on a three-game unbeaten streak (2-0-1) and recorded a 117:17 shutout streak by tying Air Force in the season opener on Oct. 10 (1-1) before posting wins at Lindenwood on Oct. 18 (4-0) and Boston College on Oct. 24 (7-3).  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).
 
POHLKAMP'S MEMORABLE NOVEMBER: Junior Eric Pohlkamp earned two monthly awards for November as he was named both the NCHC and National Defenseman of the Month.  His seven goals in the month were tied for the most among all NCHC skaters and were also the most among all NCAA blueliners, while he also added three assists in eight games. 
 
It was the most goals by a Denver defenseman and tied for the third-most for all NCAA blueliners in a single month since the start of the 2002-03 season (online records presently don't go back any further).  Only Mercyhurst's Joseph Duszak (9, January 2019) and Boston University's Ahti Oksanen (8, January 2015) scored more in a month than Pohlkamp.  Mac Gadowsky, who was playing at Army at the time, was the last D-man to tally seven goals in a month, doing so in January 2025.
 
Pohlkamp also added 11 blocked shots and had a +10 plus/minus rating in November, while also registering three multi-goal games in the month.  He matched a season high with three points on two goals and one assist on Nov. 21 at Arizona State.
 
The Baxter, Minnesota, native recorded six goals in a six-game stretch from Nov. 1-21, which included a career-long, four-game goal streak from Nov. 1-14 (4g/2a).  It was the longest goal streak by a DU defenseman since at least the start of the 2002-03 season and the longest by a blueliner in the history of the NCHC.  The goal streak was the longest by a defenseman in the NCAA this year and the longest since Cole Hutson also went on a four-game run for Boston University from Feb. 22-March 8, 2025 (4g/4a).
 
This is the first year both the conference and the National Hockey Commissioner's Association are honoring separate defenseman and forwards of the month.  It is Pohlkamp's first monthly honors from the NCHC and from the national Hockey Commissioners Association.  He was twice named the CCHA Defenseman of the Month (February and March 2024) while playing for Bemidji State as a freshman.
 
MILLER ALSO EARNS NOVEMBER ACCOLADES: Freshman Quentin Miller was named the NCHC Goaltender of the Month for November after posting a 6-2-0 record, 2.08 goals-against average, .932 save percentage and one shutout in eight games.  Both losses came in overtime, and he allowed two goals or fewer in five of the contests.
 
Matt Davis was the last DU goalie to earn monthly honors as he earned the award last March/April.
 
NOTABLES

• Denver has now won seven straight games over Miami and is 25-1-1 in the last 27 meetings.  The Pios are unbeaten in their last 20 meetings with Miami (19-0-1) and haven't lost in the past 17 matchups against the RedHawks on home ice (16-0-1).
• The Pioneers blocked a season-high 16 shots on Saturday, which included 13 of them coming in the third period (Previous high: 14, Nov. 21 at Arizona State).
• DU matched a season best with five penalty kills on Saturday vs. Miami (5/6, Oct. 31 vs. Alaska Anchorage).
• Hagen Burrows scored his third goal and recorded his ninth point in Saturday's game to tie his total from a season ago when he was a freshman.
• Brendan McMorrow scored his first career short-handed goal on Saturday and the team's third of the season. The tally also served as his first career game-winning marker.
• Freshman goalie Johnny Hicks made his NCAA debut late in the third period (one save).
• Rieger Lorenz scored his first game-winning goal of the season and second of his career on Friday (Nov. 1, 2024 at Yale).
• Garrett Brown tallied his first goal of the season on Friday night and fired a career-high five shots on Saturday.

BUCK GOES WILD: Defenseman Boston Buckberger is on a three-game point streak (2g/2a) and has points in seven of this past eight games (5g/4a).  He recorded his first career multi-goal game on Nov. 29 against Minnesota in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game at Ball Arena, including the tying marker in the final 23 seconds to force overtime.
 
Buckberger recorded five goals in a five-game stretch from Nov. 14-29, which included a career-long, three-game streak from Nov. 14-21.  It was the second time this season that a Denver D-man had tallied in three straight games, as Buckberger joined defensive partner Eric Pohlkamp who did it in four straight from Nov. 1-14.
 
The Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, native netted the game-winning marker in both games against Colorado College on Nov. 14-15, including scoring his first overtime-winner in the series opener.  Teammate and fellow rear guard Cale Ashcroft was the last Pioneer to score the game-winning marker in back-to-back regular season contests, as he did it on Dec. 14, 2024 vs. Colorado College and Jan. 3, 2025 at Maine.
 
HISTORY VS. ST. CLOUD: Denver and St. Cloud State are getting set for the first of two series this season, as the teams will meet again next month in the Mile High City (Jan. 23-24).  DU and SCSU split their only two games last season, with the Pios winning 3-1 on Feb. 28 before falling 2-1 on March 1 at Magness Arena.  Denver owns a 5-1-1 record in the past seven matchups and is 8-4-1 in the last 13 meetings, which includes a 5-4 overtime victory in the 2024 NCHC Frozen Faceoff Semifinals at Xcel Energy Center.  The Pios are making their first visit to St. Cloud since sweeping the Huskies there on March 1-2, 2024 with victories of 6-2 and 7-2.  That was Denver's first road sweep at the Brooks Center since Dec. 7-8, 2007.  The Pioneers own a 61-53-7 all-time record over the Huskies and sport a 24-24-4 mark in St. Cloud.  On home ice, DU is 35-26-3 versus SCSU.
 
PREVIOUS MEETING (MARCH 1, 2025): The No. 6 Pioneers lost 2-1 against the St. Cloud State Huskies in the series finale on at Magness Arena.  Goaltender Isak Posch led SCSU to the victory by saving 38-of-39 shots, including all 20 that DU sent his way in the third period.  DU defeated SCSU 5-1 in the opener on Friday night.  Senior Jack Devine, the only Pioneer to tally in the game, recorded his 55th career goal with to tie the score on the power play with 5:37 remaining in the second period.  Junior forward Aidan Thompson and sophomore defenseman Zeev Buium contributed assists on the Devine's 11th goal of the season.  St. Cloud State answered just 70 seconds after Devine to retake the lead at 2-1 as Verner Miettinen was the benefactor on a double redirection off a center pass.  Daimon Gardner opened the scoring at 8:03 of the first period.  The Pios outshot St. Cloud 39-25 overall in the contest, with their 20 shots in the final period beating the previous record for the most in a stanza this season. Senior goaltender Matt Davis made 23 saves tonight and faced 14 shots during the middle stanza.
 
CONNECTIONS: St. Cloud State head coach Brett Larson was an assistant coach on DU head coach David Carle's Team USA staff that won gold at both the 2024 and 2025 World Junior Championship … The Pioneers have five players from Minnesota on their roster: Hagen Burrows (Orono), Jake Fisher (Woodbury), Brendan McMorrow (Lakeville), Eric Pohlkamp (Baxter), and Alec Whipple (Excelsior) … Burrows (Minnetonka HS) was named the 2024 Mr. Hockey in the state while Fisher (Cretin-Derham Hall HS) was a finalist for the award in 2023 … Kristian Epperson (2020-22) and Sam Harris (2018-21) played prep school hockey at Shattuck-St. Mary's in Faribault, Minn. … Rieger Lorenz (No. 56 overall) is a 2022 NHL Draft pick of the Minnesota Wild … St. Cloud State's Ocean Wallace is from Boulder, Colo., and played at Shattuck-St. Mary's at the same time as Sam Harris (2018-21) … DU's Kent Anderson, Eric Jamieson and Lorenz and SCSU's Ethan Aucoin and Tyson Gross are all from Calgary, Alberta … Eric Pohlkamp played one season each with Grant Ahcan (2021-22) and Tyson Gross (2022-23) with the USHL Cedar Rapids RoughRiders … Reid Varkonyi played with Joe Belisle, Noah Urness and Aiden Welche with the USHL Sioux Falls Stampede last season in 2024-25 … Jack Reimann was teammates with DU's Sam Harris with the USHL Sioux Falls Stampede in 2021-22 and with Payton Nelson with the Des Moines Buccaneers at the end of 2022-23 … Garrett Brown briefly played with Gavyn Thoreson with the USHL Waterloo Black Hawks at the end of the 2022-23 season … Kristian Epperson and Brendan McMorrow were at the U.S. National Team Development Program at the same time as Austin Burnevik in 2022-23 … Nolan Roed was picked by the Colorado Avalanche in the seventh round (219th overall) in the 2025 NHL Draft … Sam Harris (San Diego) and Tanner Henricks (Mission Viejo) are both from Southern California … Samu Salminen (Helsinki) and Verner Miettinen (Espoo) are both from Finland.
 
SCOUTING THE HUSKIES: St. Cloud State has a 7-9-0 overall record and is seventh in the NCHC standings with eight points and a 2-6-0 mark in league play.  The Huskies hosted North Dakota at home last week but lost both games, falling by scores of 4-3 and 4-2.  SCSU is 1-6-0 in its last seven outings dating back to Nov. 7.  St. Cloud owns the sixth-best power play in the NCAA at 29.2 percent.  Tyson Gross leads the Huskies with 20 points (7g/13a) and is also first on the team in assists.  Barrett Hall is second on the squad with 18 points (7g/11a), while Austin Burnevik is third with 17 points (11g/6a) and owns the most goals on the team.  SCSU has mostly split its goalies this year, with Yan Shostak starting nine outings and registering a 3-6-0 record, 3.12 goals-against average, .887 save percentage and one shutout. Patriks Berzins has a 4-3-0 record, 2.33 goals-against average and .927 save percentage in seven starts.
 
MILESTONE MEN: Senior captain Kent Anderson is expected to play in his 125th career game on Friday at St. Cloud State, while junior defenseman Cale Ashcroft could play in his 100th career contest and Samu Salminen in his 125th NCAA outing on Saturday in the series finale.
 
Ashcroft will be the third Pioneer to reach the century mark for games played after fellow classmates Boston Buckberger and Sam Harris each appeared in their 100th career games on Nov. 29 vs. Minnesota in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game.
 
Kieran Cebrian is three games from reaching the century mark, while Eric Pohlkamp is seven away from playing in his 100th career NCAA contest.  Additionally, senior Rieger Lorenz is seven outings from 150 games—he leads all active players in games played.
 
SHOTS ON SHOTS ON SHOTS: The Pioneers lead the nation by averaging 38.9 shots per game and recorded their eighth contest of the season with 40 or more shots on Friday vs. Miami (42-22).
 
DU outshot Minnesota 52-25 on Nov. 29 for its second game of the season with 50 or more shots.  The Pioneers outshot the Gophers 25-5 in the first period for its most shots in a period since the start of the 2021-22 season, and it was the largest shot differential for a single frame since they outshot UMass 22-1 in the third period on Oct. 14, 2022.
 
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.
 
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. 
 
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). 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.
 
DOMINANT DEFENSE: The Pioneers rank tied for fourth in the nation and is tied for the lead in the NCHC (Minnesota Duluth) by allowing 1.9 goals against per game.  They have held opponents to one goal or fewer in nine of the 17 contests this year. 
 
Denver ranks third in the country in scoring margin at 2.0, as the team's 3.9 goals for per game are fourth-best in the NCAA.
 
PIONEERS IN THE POLLS: Denver didn't move in this week's polls as the team stayed at No. 6 in the USCHO.com ranking and No. 5 on the USA Hockey list.  The Pioneers began the year at No. 4 in each preseason media poll and are presently No. 6 in the NPI rankings that will determine this year's NCAA Tournament field.
 
The NCHC has five teams ranked, second-most among all conferences behind Hockey East (six).  The league and the Big Ten each have four squads in the top 10.  Joining DU in the polls from the conference are North Dakota (4/6), Minnesota Duluth (5/4), Western Michigan (7/8) and Colorado College (19/19). Arizona State, Miami and St. Cloud State also earned votes in at least one of the polls.
 
McMORROW HEADING TO USA TRAINING CAMP: Freshman forward Brendan McMorrow has been invited to the U.S. National Junior Team's training camp next week in preparation for the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship on home soil.
 
McMorrow is one of 28 players that were named to Team USA's preliminary roster for the upcoming World Juniors in St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota, from Dec. 26, 2025-Jan. 5, 20026.  Training camp is set from Dec. 15-23 in Duluth, Minnesota, and the final 25 players of the team will be announced by Dec. 24.
 
The Lakeville, Minnesota, native previously played for the U.S. National Team Development Program (2022-2024) and won gold medals with the Americans at the 2022 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge (1g/5a) and 2024 World Junior-A Challenge (2g/5a). He also earned a silver medal while playing in all seven games at the 2024 IIHF U18 World Championships
 
Team USA is the defending champions after winning both the 2024 and 2025 tournaments in Sweden and Canada, respectively, with Denver hockey head coach David Carle leading both squads to gold.
 
PIONEERS HEADING TO SWITZERLAND FOR SPENGLER CUP: Defenseman Eric Pohlkamp is heading to Davos, Switzerland, during the holiday break, as he will play for the U.S. Collegiate Select Team in the 2025 Spengler Cup in Davos from Dec. 26-31.  The junior named to the squad on Oct. 16 as one of the first 10 players to be announced to the roster, which features 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 includes representation from all six conferences, was 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 as student-athletes, with Massimo Rizzo doing so in 2023 and Ian Mitchell in 2019.
 

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