DENVER – The No. 7 Denver Pioneers hockey team lost 6-2 to the No. 6 Western Michigan Broncos in the series finale on Saturday night at Magness Arena. 
 
Denver (12-9-2, 8-4-0 NCHC) and WMU (16-6-0,8-4-0 NCHC) finished their regular season series at 2-2-0, with both teams winning each game on the road. The Pioneers swept the Broncos in Kalamazoo on Nov. 7-8.
 
Five different DU players recorded at least a point in Saturday's contest, with sophomore forward James Reeder picking up a multi-point game with a goal and an assist.
 
Senior forward Rieger Lorenz was the other Pioneer that added to the scoreboard with a Denver power-play goal in the second period. Juniors Sam Harris and Eric Pohlkamp and freshman Kristian Epperson registered an assist each in the outing.
 
Broncos goaltender Hampton Slukynsky stopped 35 shots in the win. Denver outshot the Western Michigan 37-30 overall, including by a 14-9 margin in the first frame and 15-10 in the final period. 
 
Four different Western Michigan skaters had multi-point performances in Owen Michaels (2g/1a), William Whitelaw (2g/1a), Ty Henricks (1g/2a) and Theo Wallberg (0g/2a). 
 
Denver freshman netminder Quentin Miller made his 20th straight start and stopped 11 shots in 31:46 of play. Fellow rookie Johnny Hicks entered in relief in the second period and denied all 13 pucks that were sent his way for the remainder of the game
 
Reeder opened the scoring of the outing just 35 seconds after the start, which also marked his first goal since Nov. 8 at Western Michigan. Lorenz recorded his first power-play marker of the season at 15:33 in the middle stanza to make the score 5-2.
 
The Broncos registered five unanswered goals in the middle of the contest, including three in a matter of 4:35 in the second period to break open a game that had a 2-1 score at the first intermission. Whitelaw closed the scoring into an empty net with 11:15 left in the third period.
 
UP NEXT: The Pioneers head out on the road for their only away contests in a 10-game span, as they face the No. 4 North Dakota Fighting Hawks in a two-game series in Grand Forks next week. Friday's game begins at 6 p.m. MT while Saturday's start time is 5 p.m., and each contest will be broadcast on NCHC.tv.
 
 
POSTGAME NOTES

• Denver finished the regular-season series against Western Michigan 2-2-0, with both teams winning each game on the road.
• DU is starting a stretch of its schedule where the team will play top-10 ranked opponents from the conference in the three of the next four weekends; North Dakota is next weekend and currently ranked No. 4 while the squad will play No. 5 Minnesota Duluth on Jan. 30-31.
• Denver scored on the power play for a fifth straight game, extending its season-long streak.
• The Pioneers beat their previous record for the quickest goal to start a game as James Reeder tallied 35 seconds into the first period. The previous fastest was; the previous was 1:16, but Reeder's marker broke that at 0:35. 
• Defenseman Eric Pohlkamp extended his point-streak (1g/3a) to three games.
• Freshman goaltender Johnny Hicks appeared in his third career game.
• James Reeder recorded his fifth multi-point game of the season.

 
GOAL SUMMARY
1st Period
0:35 DU (1-0) – James Reeder scored in the low slot off a rebound from Eric Pohlkamp's blast from the right point.
7:10 WMU (1-1) – PPG, William Whitelaw tallied on a one-timer from the left circle that went short-side.
19:13 WMU (1-2) – Owen Michael scored in the slot area after taking a pass from Ty Henricks after the Broncos forced a turnover in the DU defensive zone.
 
2nd Period
7:09 WMU (1-3) – Owen Michaels took a drop pass from Theo Wallberg and his shot from the right circle got through the Denver goalie and ended up in the back of the net.
8:17 WMU (1-4) – Iiro Hakkarainen tallied in front after placing the puck just past Quentin Miller as the DU keeper was sprawled on the ice to make the save.
11:46 WMU (2-5) – Ty Henricks scored on a sweeping shot after taking the rebound in the low slot off a shot from Theo Wallberg.
15:33 DU (2-5) – PPG, Rieger Lorenz tapped in Theo Wallberg/s centering pass while stationed at the top of the crease from James Reeder.
 
3rd Period
8:35 WMU (2-6) – ENG, William Whitelaw scored into an open net from the neutral zone while DU was trying to build off some momentum.
 
 
QUOTABLES
Richard and Kitzia Goodman Hockey Head Coach David Carle
On game: "It was a frustrating night on a lot of levels. I did like our start, liked our first period. You know, an unfortunate non0call on the second goal (of Western Michigan), which resulted in a change of possession and a goal in the back of the net. I think that flustered us a little bit. Second period, I thought they carried the play, but we had a push the last five minutes; felt we weren't going to be deterred or go away. But a tough weekend overall. An opportunity to look in the mirror and learn and grow."

On going into the third and changing up lines: "Yeah we did. It was good to see. You know, the start of the third wasn't great for us. I thought we would have had a little bit more to start the third. You have to give them a lot of credit; they're an excellent hockey team. Goaltender played extremely well. You know, again we had numerous chances that could've found their way in the back of the net and got us a little bit tighter back in the game. I thought [WMU goalie] Hampton [Slukynsky]—again he is a world-class goaltender. He played very well tonight and all weekend."
 

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