DENVER – The No. 6-ranked University of Denver hockey team dropped Game 1 of the NCHC Quarterfinals on Friday night with a 3-1 loss to the Colorado College Tigers at Magness Arena.
 
Denver (26-10-1, 15-7-1 NCHC) is the No. 3 seed in the conference tournament and looks to even the best-of-three series against sixth-seeded Colorado College (18-16-1, 11-12-1 NCHC) on Saturday at 6 p.m. MT in Game 2 on the DU campus. Limited tickets are available. The contest will be broadcast on NCHC.tv.

"Let's turn the page, get our bodies and our minds right to try and get back here on Sunday," said Richard and Kitzia Goodman Hockey Head Coach David Carle. "No sense to feel sorry for ourselves. We knew there was a potential that this could go to three games, and it's our job and in our hands to get it there." 

Senior forward Jack Devine scored his 13th goal of the season for the Pioneers and fellow classmate Carter King registered the lone assist on the play. Senior goaltender Matt Davis saved 20-of-22 shots faced from CC.
 
Devine got the Pios on the board first after a scoreless opening period off a faceoff win at 13:39 of the second period. King battled for the puck on the draw and it bounced to Devine, who tapped in his own rebound from below the left circle.
 
Kaidan Mbereko led the Tigers in net as the goaltender stopped 33-of-34 shots throughout the night, including making 14 stops in both the first and second periods.
 
Colorado College tallied three unanswered in the third period, as Ty Gallagher tied the score at 1-1 during a 5-on-3-man advantage at 4:28 of the frame. Brady Cleveland recorded the game-winning goal for the Tigers on a redirection with 3:43 remaining in regulation. With 37 seconds left in the game, Noah Laba finalized the outcome with an empty-netter. 
 
Despite the close score, the final amount of shot on goals was heaving in Denver's favor with the squad finishing with a 34-23 edge. 
 
The Tigers didn't record its first shot on goal until 10:37 into the first period, as the Pios had the first 12 on net and finished the opening stanza with a 14-3 advantage.
 
Denver went 0-for-4 on the power play, while CC scored on one of its three man advantages in the outing.
 
UP NEXT: Denver continues the best-of-three series on Saturday at 6 p.m. MT. If necessary, Game 3 is Sunday at 6 p.m. MT. The NCHC Frozen Faceoff semifinals and final are next weekend, March 21-22, at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.
 
 
POSTGAME NOTES

• Friday marked the 2,800th game in Denver hockey history
• Kent Anderson played in his 100th career game. He is the seventh player on the current roster to skate in at least 100 collegiate contests.
• DU had its 11-game winning streak in the NCHC Quarterfinals end. The stretch began in Game 2 of the 2018 series against Colorado College.
• Denver is now 19-3 all-time in NCHC opening round games and has a 29-9-1 all-time record in the NCHC Tournament
• The Pioneers dropped to 16-13 all-time against Colorado College in conference tournament outings and 5-3 in games during the NCHC Frozen Faceoff Tournament.
• The Pioneers and Tigers were meeting for the first time in the Frozen Faceoff Tournament since DU lost 1-0 in the 2023 Semifinals. DU hosted quarterfinal series in 2017 (2-0) and 2018 (2-1).
• Denver is 3-2-0 this season against Colorado College.
• The Pioneers and Tigers faced each other last week in the regular-season finale. This is the first time that the teams are meeting in back-to-back weeks since 2004. The Pios last played a team in two consecutive series in March 2016 versus Omaha.

 
GOAL SUMMARY
1st Period
No Scoring
 
2nd Period
13:38 DU (1-0) – Jack Devine took the puck off a scramble from an offensive zone faceoff, drove to the net and then buried his own rebound in the blue pain.
 
3rd Period
4:28 CC (1-1) – PPG, Ty Gallagher buried a one-timer from the left circle during a 5-on-3 man advantage.
16:17 CC (1-2) – Brady Cleveland shot from the bluline was deflected in front and went up and over goaltender Matt Davis.
19:23 CC (1-3) – ENG, Noah Laba chased down the puck and deposited into the empty net.
 
 
QUOTABLES
Richard and Kitzia Goodman Hockey Head Coach David Carle
On the loss: "Disappointing certainly. You know, they execute their 5-on-3 goal to a high level, and then they, you know, we're in a shot lane, hits a stick, goes over everything and in the net. So that's hockey sometimes. I liked our start, liked a lot of what we did in the game. Thought we lost a bit of our killer instinct or desperation as the game went on. Obviously, they have a little bit to do with that as well as they push back, but tight game. It's playoff hockey, and if you lose, or take your foot off the gas a little bit, it can leave the game to chance. Which that bounce was."
 
On potential missed chances in the first period: "I don't know, you can't get wrapped up in the scoreboard. We know they have a good goalie. It was that way last weekend so of course you would always like to get a lead, build the lead, what have you. But the game's in our control and unfortunately we took some penalties in the third period to go to 5-on-3 and the rest is history. They were able to get that bounce. Credit to them. They stuck with it, goalie played well in the first, and they were able to stay in the hockey game and put themselves in a position to win."
 
On special teams play: "I think speed up the ice was an issue, execution up the ice was an issue. We were a little bit disconnected up the ice, and then in the zone, we had a couple of looks, but obviously not enough. They win the special teams battle, which we all know is so important when it comes to this time of year." 


TICKETS: Limited amount of Game 2 tickets for the NCHC Quarterfinals are available. Click here to purchase and for more information.