DENVER – Sophomore defenseman Boston Buckberger recorded three points on Friday night to help lead the No. 6 University of Denver hockey team to a 4-0 win against the No. 17 North Dakota Fighting Hawks at Magness Arena.
 
Goaltenders Matt Davis and Freddie Halyk combined for a shutout as DU picked up its second clean sheet of the season. It was the Pioneers' first shutout against the Fighting Hawks since winning 2-0 on March 3, 2019 in Game 1 of the NCHC Quarterfinals.
 
"I thought we just took a step in the third period," said Denver Richard and Kitzia Goodman Hockey Head Coach David Carle. "You know, we've been in some good situations the last three Fridays; felt like we left some points on the board with the level of play that we had, and there were some mental lapses and inability to finish and extend our lead. Tonight, we were obviously able to do that. I thought our discipline was pretty good throughout the night and the result was a 4-0 win, so I thought our mental focus throughout the whole 60 minutes was pretty good."
 
Denver (21-7-1, 10-6-1 NCHC) and North Dakota (14-12-2, 9-7-1 NCHC) conclude their weekend set and season series on Saturday at 6 p.m. MT at DU.  The outing will be televised regionally on Altitude Sports. Limited tickets are available.
 
The Pioneers leapfrogged the Fighting Hawks in the NCHC standings with the victory and are in fourth place with 30 points.
 
Buckberger tied a career high with a goal and two assists, while senior forward Jack Devine recorded two markers in a matter of nine minutes in the third period to double the Pioneers' lead from 2-0 to 4-0.
 
There was no scoring throughout the first 34:21 of the outing until sophomore forward Kieran Cebrian scored his fourth goal in the last eight games for the Pios with 5:39 left in the second stanza.
 
Denver held a 2-0 at the second intermission as sophomore forward Sam Harris skated coast-to-coast before passing the puck up to Buckberger, who netted his third goal in the past four games on a shot that got through traffic with less than three minutes remaining in the intermission.
 
North Dakota goaltender T.J. Semptimphelter saved 28-of-32 shots shot, including all 16 in the that the Pioneers fired at him in the first period.
 
Denver's goaltenders combined for the team shutout after Davis left the contest late in the third period with a lower-body injury. Davis saved all 15 shots that the Hawks sent his way before Halyk stepped in and stopped each of the six pucks he faced in the final 14:17.
 
Neither team scored on their two power-play opportunities on the evening.
 
UP NEXT: The Pioneers continue their stretch of playing five-of-seven games at home on Saturday, as they host the Fighting Hawks in the teams' final meeting of the regular season.
 
 
POSTGAME NOTES

• DU improved to 3-0-0 this season against North Dakota and is 8-3-0 in the last 11 games of the series.
• Denver played its 20th game on Valentine's Day in program history, improving to 12-6-2 on the date. DU was facing UND for the fifth time on Feb. 14 and is now 2-2-1 all-time on V-Day against the Fighting Hawks program.
• The Pioneers recorded their second shutout of the season and first since defeating Yale 6-0 on Nov. 1 in New Haven.
• Kieran Cebrian scored his first career game-winning goal.
• Boston Buckberger tied a career high with three points, as he previously accomplished the feat with three assists on Feb. 24, 2024 vs. Miami.
• Sam Harris competed in his 70th carer game and recorded his 50th career point on Friday night.
• Harris stretched his point streak to eight games (7g/4a), one shy of matching his career long that he set earlier this season.
• Jack Devine recorded his first multi-goal game of the season and extended his point streak to four games (3g/5a).
• Aidan Thompson is also on a four-game point streak (3g/3a). 
• Eric Pohlkamp is on a three-game assist/point streak (0g/3a) and earned the 50th point in his college career. 
• Zeev Buium had his four-game point streak end (1g/6a).
• Off of Buckberger's goal, Samu Salminen earned his 30th career assist. 

 
GOAL SUMMARY
1st Period
No Scoring
 
2nd Period
14:21 DU (1-0) – Kieran Cebrian knocked in the puck at the right post after grabbing the rebound off Eric Pohlkamp's shot that went intentionally wide and caromed off the end boards. Jared Wright helped create the possession seconds earlier by beating a UND player for the puck on a forecheck.
17:04 DU (2-0) – Boston Buckberger's shot from the high slot got through traffic after Sam Harris created the play by winning a race for the puck in the UND zone.
 
3rd Period
8:24 DU (3-0) – Jack Devine took a quick cross-pass from Aidan Thompson and fired a wrist shot that went off the North Dakota goalie and in.
16:57 DU (4-0) – ENG, Jack Devine chased down the puck and deposited it into the open net off an assist from Carter King.
 
 
QUOTABLES
Richard and Kitzia Goodman Hockey Head Coach David Carle
On Matt Davis' injury: "I don't have an update on him. He was good enough to stay on the bench, but not good enough to go back in. He's being evaluated right now, but other than addressing the team, I haven't talked to him."
 
On Boston Buckberger's game: "Yeah, he was moving his feet, moving the puck, head was up. I thought he did a good job."
 
On outshooting North Dakota 16-4 in the first period: "It's probably the first time I've ever seen that between us and them, so it was a bit of an anomaly. I mean, you want to start well, you want to try and score anytime you can. Obviously, (UND goalie) TJ [Semptimphelter] played well in the first period there and again I thought they responded. You could be a little bit disappointed going into the room 0-0 with the shot count what it is, but I thought our guys handled their push, pushed back, and again, started executing offensively to get the lead and extend it."
 
Sophomore defenseman Boston Buckberger 
On his game: "It doesn't start with me, it starts with our teammates, and our forwards making good plays below the goal line, and [the defensemen] just got the puck out to us. Fortunately enough we could make some plays up top, and every once in a while, they go in and it was going in tonight, so it was good." 
 
On what changes for tomorrow: "I think not many changes. I think just staying with the same amount of emotion that we had tonight. So I think that when our bench is always up for each other and making sure that we have enough energy throughout the game, and that it doesn't get quiet. That's going to be the biggest thing because they are going to come harder tomorrow, obviously after losing Friday and shutting them out. We're just going to bring that same emotional intensity."  
 
On how they responded to UND's aggressiveness: "Obviously, they're very aggressive. Everyone's aggressive in this league, but I think we just hit them back, and there's going to be an equal reaction to every action. I think just making them feel it too. Our forwards did a great job, being hard on their D-men, being hard and reloading in the neutral zone. I think that wears the team down throughout the game, so just being hard back was a big component, for sure."
 
Senior forward Jack Devine 
On his first goal: "I thought it was pretty crazy, really good backhand sauce across the ice from Boston Buckberger. It was definitely one of the better passes I've seen in my career, and [Aidan] Thompson made a really nice pass to me and I saw the goalie slide, so I just tried to go against the grain against him."
 
On Boston Buckberger's night: "Yeah, I just think he's been progressing his game over the last few years. I think it's been coming together, both offensively and defensively. I really like the way that him and Eric [Pohlkamp] have kind of found that chemistry and have been really effective on both ends of the ice." 
 
On the win: "We haven't been playing as good as we know we can on Friday nights, especially last weekend. We thought we could beat Omaha two weekends ago on that first night, so it's really big to have momentum. We did the same in Duluth, we didn't get that one on Friday. So we know how tight the races are in the NCHC, so hopefully try to get a sweep here." 
 

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