GRAND FORKS, N.D. – Sophomore forward James Reeder scored the go-ahead goal midway through the third period and freshman goaltender Quentin Miller made 33 saves to lead the No. 9 Denver Pioneers hockey team to a 3-2 victory against the No. 5 North Dakota Fighting Hawks on Saturday night at Ralph Engelstad Arena.
 
Junior defenseman Eric Pohlkamp tied the game at 2-2 in the second period for Denver (13-10-2, 9-5-0 NCHC), and Reeder tallied the only power-play goal of the weekend for either team with 8:41 remaining in the third frame.
 
Freshman forward Kristian Epperson recorded a multi-point night with a goal and an assist for the Pioneers. Boston Buckberger, Clarke Caswell, Sam Harris and Samu Salminen each had an assist in the outing.
 
DU and North Dakota (18-6-0, 10-4-0 NCHC) were facing off in their only series of the season, and the teams split the weekend set after the Fighting Hawks won in a shutout on Friday. NoDak and Denver are the top two teams in the NCHC standings with 10 games to go in the regular season.
 
Miller made 11 saves in the first period, stopped 14 shots in the second and denied all eight pucks in the third to help the Pioneers end a six-game winless streak (0-5-1). The Hawks outshot the Pios 35-17 overall.
 
Epperson began the scoring for DU with 5:51 left in the opening period, but Dylan James tallied 3:30 later to even the outing at 1-1 going into the first break. The score was 2-2 after two periods of play, with Pohlkamp burying a wrist shot at 12:53 and about four minutes after Jake Livanavage found the back of the cage to give UND its only lead of the night.
 
Reeder netted his sixth goal of the season off a rebound from Harris's shot while Fighting Hawks goalie Jan Spunar was sprawled on the ice trying to make the save. Spurner saved 14-of 17 shots faced in the loss.
 
The Pioneers went 1-for-4 on the power play and killed off all three of UND's man advantages on Saturday, finishing 7-for-7 on the PK on the weekend.
 
UP NEXT: Denver returns home and begins its second four-game homestand of the season next Friday and Saturday against St. Cloud State at Magness Arena. DU hosts Minnesota Duluth in their only meetings of the season the following week on Jan. 30-31.

 
POSTGAME NOTES

• Denver is now 4-2-0 in its last six games against UND and 9-5-0 in the past 14 contests. The Pioneers are 5-3-0 in their past eight games in Grand Forks.
• North Dakota was the third NCHC squad that Denver concluded its season series with (Western Michigan, four games; Miami, two games).
• Eric Pohlkamp scored his 14th goal of the season, taking sole possession of ninth place in program history for goals by a defenseman in a single season. It is the most goals by a DU blueliner since Mike Benning tallied 15 times in 2021-22.
• Kristian Epperson recorded his second multi-point game of the season (Nov. 1 vs. Alaska Anchorage).
• After blocking a season-high 18 shots on Friday, DU set a new best with 19 blocks on Saturday.
• Freshman forward Payton Nelson was celebrating his 21st birthday on Saturday while junior goaltender Paxton Geisel turns 22 years old on Sunday.
• Denver improved to 10-2-0 when scoring first, 4-5-1 when tied after the first period and 2-2-1 when tied at the end of two periods this season.
• The Pioneers earned their fourth comeback win of the season.

 
GOAL SUMMARY
1st Period
14:09 DU (1-0) – Clarke Caswell forced a turnover behind the goal line and found Kristian Epperson with a pass in the slot, and Epperson hit twine with a wrist shot.
17:39 UND (1-1) – Dylan James tallied on a backhand shot from the right side off a rebound.
 
2nd Period
8:43 UND (1-2) – Jake Livanavage scored on a low wrister from the left circle during a 4-on-4.
12:53 DU (2-2) – Eric Pohlkamp sent a wrister from the left circle that went high and far-side into the net.
 
3rd Period
11:19 DU (3-2) – PPG, James Reeder buried the puck on a rebound in front as UND goalie Jan Spunar was sprawled on the ice in his crease.
 
 
QUOTABLES
Richard and Kitzia Goodman Hockey Head Coach David Carle
On the game: "It was a hard-fought game. You know, they're a good hockey team. They're the best team we've seen for sure, top to bottom, not a lot of holes in what they do. They make it hard on you, and our guys, I thought they battled real hard for each other tonight. It was a much needed win. Obviously it's been tough going the last little while—playing well but not getting results, not playing full 60 minutes."
 
On the power-play goal and third period: "Huge power-play goal. Another thing that we felt that was lacking throughout this time here was our power play stepping up in big moments. I love that the best part of our game was the start of the third period, we were really good and we were able to buckle it down and was obviously able to kill off the 5-on-6. Proud of guys through this stretch, and it's not like it's over—we have a lot of tough games coming ahead. They found a way to stay positive and block out some outside noise and found a way to win a game tonight for each other."
 
On playing St. Cloud State next: "We have another four-game homestand and hopefully we found a little bit of confidence tonight and build off of it, and get going into an excellent team in St. Cloud State, who I think have only lost twice we've been up there in the middle of December. It's kind of been a tale of two teams since that weekend—we've only won once, they've only lost twice. We're getting a real hot team that just split with Duluth, and then Duluth is coming in the week after—another top-five team in the country. A lot of resiliency showed by our guys tonight. We're proud of them and looking forward to getting home.
 
Sophomore Forward James Reeder
On getting a win: "It feels so good. We've been struggling since before break. It's been awhile since we've been in the win column. It feels good."
 
On the team staying positive during this recent tough stretch: "Going into today, we knew we had to flush what happened yesterday and just come to work. Today is a new day and earn the split and get back on the right track heading into next weekend."
 
On his power-play goal: "Samu [Salminen], Cale [Ashcroft] made a nice play to [Kristian] Epperson, who shot it, and [Sam] Harris was in front of the net and he took away the guy's body. Luckily I was able to pick it up and put it in the net for the big goal and help the team win. It was nice."
 
On the team's defensive play: "[Goaltender Quentin] Miller really bounced back tonight, had a heck of a game. We really needed him to be big and make some saves, and he did exactly that. Our defense was much more connected in our D-zone, taking away their chance and led to a smoother transition and much better team game tonight."


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