GRAND FORKS, N.D. – The No. 9 University of Denver hockey team lost 5-0 to the No. 5 North Dakota Fighting Hawks on Friday night at Ralph Engelstad Arena.
 
"You look at the game, I thought [North Dakota] played really well. I did think we had our moments in the first and second period, especially through the first seven (minutes) of the second," said Denver Richard and Kitzia Goodman Hockey Head Coach David Carle. "It's kind of the same story where we're having to earn our chances and our goals. We feel like we're hand delivering some things to the other team, and credit them, they executed and forced us into some turnovers and put it in the back of the net.
 
"We executed on a few things we wanted to get better at last weekend, but ultimately obviously not enough. They're an excellent team, tough environment, disappointing night all-around, but excited for the opportunity to do it again tomorrow."
 
DU (12-10-2, 8-5-0 NCHC) and UND (18-5-0, 10-3-0 NCHC) conclude their weekend and season series on Saturday at 5 p.m. MT. The game will be broadcast on NCHC.tv.
 
Fighting Hawks goaltender Jan Spunar stopped all 18 shots to earn the shutout. NoDak's Anthony Menghini had two goals and Cole Reschny finished with a goal and an assist.
 
North Dakota finished with a 36-18 edge in shots on goal.
 
Denver netminder Quentin Miller made his 21st consecutive start and finished with 16 saves. Fellow freshman goalie Johnny Hicks played the third period and made 15 saves on 16 shots faced.
 
UND took advantage of failed clears on DU's first two goals, with Ellis Rockwood opening the scoring 1:03 into the game. Menghini netted his first of two goals on the evening seven and a half minutes later to give the Fighting Hawks a 2-0 lead at the first break.
 
The Hawks doubled their lead in the middle frame with two goals in matter of 3:39, as Jack Kernan scored on a breakaway after a Pioneer player fumbled the puck at the UND blue line at 7:08 and Menghini hit twine from the right circle off a cross pass by Reschny at 10:47
 
Reschny netted his goal with 1:14 left in the third period.
 
Neither team scored on the power play, with Denver going 0-for-3 and North Dakota finishing 0-for-4 with the man advantage.
 
UP NEXT: The Pioneers and Fighting Hawks face off in the series finale on Saturday at 5 p.m. MT before the Pioneers open their second season-long, four-game homestand next weekend versus St. Cloud State
 
 
POSTGAME NOTES

• Senior forward Rieger Lorenz played in his 150th career game. He leads all active NCAA players in games played.
• Junior defenseman Eric Pohlkamp played in his 100th career NCAA contest.
• Denver is 3-2-0 in its last five games against UND and 8-5-0 in the past 13 contests.
• Goaltender Johnny Hicks played in his second straight game, the second time this season that he's played in back-to-back contests (Dec. 6-12, 2026).
• DU had its season-long five-game streak of scoring a power play goal come to an end.
• Defenseman Eric Pohlkamp had his three-game assist/point streak end (1g/4a).

 
GOAL SUMMARY
1st Period
1:03 UND (0-1) – Ellis Rickwood scored from below the left circle after a failed clear by the Pioneers in front.
8:32 UND (0-2) – Anthony Menghini tallied from the low right side following the reception of cross-feed from Sam Laurila that went through slot.
 
2nd Period
7:08 UND (0-3) – A Denver player misplayed the puck at the UND blueline, and Jack Kernan grabbed the puck and scored an unassisted goal the other way with a wrist shot from the left circle.
10:47 UND (0-4) – Anthony Menghini went far-side with a shot from the right circle after Cole Reschny found him with a pass at the DU blue line on a zone entry.
 
3rd Period
18:46 UND (0-5) – Cole Reschny scored on a wrist shot from the top of the circle after a Denver giveaway in its own zone.
 
 
QUOTABLES
Richard and Kitzia Goodman Hockey Head Coach David Carle
On special teams: "The PK was good. We had power plays early. We had the first three power plays when the game the 1-0, 2-0 and 2-0 again. We get moments to get us tied or back within one. We generated a couple looks, not as many as sustained as we would like. Again, it's a similar track record in these last four or five games where the chances are harder to come by, and I think the execution rate is not quite as good as it was in the first half. It's a challenge that we need to continue to fight through and stick together through it all."
 
On turning the page for tomorrow's game: "We need a better start. Feeling sorry for ourselves, as we tell our guys, is a completely wasted feeling and emotion in sport and in life. We need to dig in and play for one another at a higher level and executing for one another at a higher level."
 
On the team continuing to battle: "The guys, they care. They're frustrated. What a difference a month makes, you know; we're sitting in St. Cloud on whatever it was, Dec. 13, on a Friday night [after a win]. It's the same people in the room in a lot of ways, but our challenge is to continue to stick together and work through this. We've did a lot tonight that was in our control, not properly and not correctly. Some out of our control. We'll reattack the day tomorrow and try to have a better effort and better result."


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