DENVER – Defenseman Eric Pohlkamp scored twice and freshman goaltender Johnny Hicks stopped every shot he faced as the No. 9 Denver Pioneers hockey team beat the St. Cloud State Huskies 6-0 on Saturday night at Magness Arena. 
 
Eleven different Pios (14-11-2, 10-6-0 NCHC) picked up at least one point and five different players scored in the clean sheet win over the Huskies (13-13-0, 6-10-0 NCHC).
 
"We're trying to stay focused on what we can control and be process-oriented," said Richard and Kitzia Goodman Hockey Head Coach David Carle. "You know, happy for our guys, we were able to get the result tonight. I thought we played a better team and game tonight. Obviously, we gave ourselves the same position, up 2-0, but we didn't give them anything for free tonight like we did last night."
 
Pohlkamp's two goals bring his season total to 16, which moved the junior into a tie for fourth place in school history for the most markers by a defenseman in a single season. It is the most goals by a Denver blueliner since Craig Redmond and Jim Leavins each tallied 16 times in 1982-83 and also sets the NCHC record for the most tallies by a D-man.
 
Freshman goalie Quentin Miller made his 24th consecutive start (one save), but Hicks came in relief 4:43 into the first period after Miller left with a lower-body injury. Hicks stopped all 22 shots sent his way to pick up his first career win and keep the team shutout intact.
 
Junior defenseman Boston Buckberger had a goal and an assist and sophomore forward James Reeder also recorded two points with a pair of helpers. Junior Rieger Lorenz scored in the second period and freshmen Kyle Chyzowski and Payton Nelson each tallied in the third, with Nelson's marker at 13:38 of the frame being the first of his collegiate career.
 
In a matter of 9:17 of playing time, the Pios registered four goals from Pohlkamp—twice—Buckberger and Lorenz. Pohlkamp and Buckberger each tallied in the final 2:39 of the first period, and Pohlkamp added his second on the power play at 4:41 of the second stanza. Lorenz buried his eighth goal of the season 1:17 after Pohlkamp's conference record-breaking tally.
 
Huskies goaltender Patriks Berzins played the first 25:58, saving 11 pucks on net before James Gray stepped in relief and finished the game by also denying 11 shots. 
 
DU outshot SCSU 28-23 overall and went 1-for-2 on the power play while only taking one penalty.
 
The Pioneers and Huskies split both their weekend and regular-season series, as St. Cloud won on Friday night in Denver and both teams picked up victories in Minnesota on Dec. 12-13.
 
UP NEXT: DU begins its back half of a four-game homestand next weekend as it hosts the No. 6 Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs on Friday and Saturday night.
 
 
POSTGAME NOTES

• Goaltender Johnny Hicks earned his first win while playing his fifth game this season and also picked up his first career point with an assist on Payton Nelson's goal.
• Hicks is the fourth Denver goaltender in the last five years to not allow a goal in their first win, joining teammate Quentin Miller (Oct. 18, 2025 at Lindenwood), Freddie Halyk (Oct. 28, 2023 vs. Air Force) and Matt Davis (Oct. 16, 2021 vs. Air Force).
• Eric Pohlkamp scored twice for his third multi-goal game of the season (Oct. 11 vs. Bentley, 3g/0a; Nov. 21 at Arizona State, 2g/1a) and his fifth of his career.
• Pohlkamp now has 16 goals this year to surpass Mike Benning (2021-22), Joey LaLeggia (2014-15) and Ryan Caldwell (2003-04) and moves into a tie for fourth place for markers by a defenseman in a single season. It is the most goals by a blueliner since Craig Redmond and Jim Leavins each tallied 16 times in 1982-83. Ross Woodley also scored 16 goals in 1971-72.
• Pohlkamp now holds the NCHC record for goals by a defenseman, besting the previous mark of 15 that was held by both Benning and LaLeggia.
• Payton Nelson played in his sixth game of the season and scored his first career goal.
• Boston Buckberger now has 23 points in the past 13 contests (5g/7a).
• Denver is in the midst of a four-game homestand, tied for its longest of the season.
• The Pioneers have killed off 10 straight penalties dating back to last weekend's series at North Dakota.
• DU has scored on the power play in seven of the last nine games, going 8-for-32 with the extra man on the ice.
• Denver finished 2-2-0 this season against St. Cloud State and now owns a 63-55-7 overall record and a 36-27-3 mark on home ice in the all-time series.
• The Huskies were the fourth team that the Pioneers wrapped up their yearly series with and the second of whom they will have played four times (Western Michigan).  
• Denver was celebrating Hockey Parents Appreciation Weekend during the series versus St. Cloud State and honored the families on the ice during the first intermission on Saturday's game.

 
GOAL SUMMARY
1st Period
17:21 DU (1-0) – Eric Pohlkamp went glove-side with a wrister in the high slot after a faceoff win by Samu Salminen.
19:03 DU (2-0) – Boston Buckberger buried a wrist shot at the high slot after receiving a pass from Sam Harris.
 
2nd Period
4:41 DU (3-0) – PPG, Eric Pohlkamp hit twine with a one-timer at the left circle from a feed by Clarke Caswell.
5:58 DU (4-0) – Rieger Lorenz scored after unleashing a wrist shot at the top of the right circle after a clean faceoff win by Kieran Cebrian.
 
3rd Period
5:02 DU (5-0) – Kyle Chyzowski took a pass from the left wall by Cale Ashcroft and tallied with a wrist shot while all alone in the slot.
13:38 DU (6-0) – Payton Nelson knocked in Reid Varknoyi's centering pass to the front of the net during a rush for his first collegiate tally.
 
 
QUOTABLES
Richard and Kitzia Goodman Hockey Head Coach David Carle
On Johnny Hicks earning his first win in net: "It shows our depth at all positions. Happy for him, he's worked really hard this year to give himself an opportunity to come into games and to play well. He's done that over this past month—he's gotten opportunities to come into the game for different reasons, but he's played well when given that chance and really happy and proud of him that he was able to come in and help our team get a win tonight." 
 
On the freshmen's growth: "They're a big part of our team, I mean, there's 10 of them. They've been really good for us all season long and again, we see the depth of the class with Johnny coming in tonight. Happy for Nelly (Payton Nelson) to get his first goal, a great pass from Varks (Reid Varkonyi) to get it to him. [Kristian] Epperson, that line's been playing really well. We mixed up our lines a little bit tonight, but I thought a lot of them contributed in good ways for us." 
 
On Eric Pohlkamp breaking the NCHC record for goals by a defenseman in a single season: "I like it when he scores because it increases our chances of winning, and he's got a great weapon that he uses a lot and he does a really nice job. Happy for him that he was able to get two for us tonight."
 
Junior Defenseman Eric Pohlkamp
On Johnny's first win: "Yeah, it's huge for confidence and he got the shutout. I mean that kid works so hard each and every day. Obviously he's considered our backup goalie, but he puts his heart and soul into this team. He got his first win, first shutout, so super happy for him."
 
On what changed from last night's game: "I think our reloads were really well tonight, and we were hard on their top line. [St. Cloud State center Tyson Gross' line tonight, which was good. I mean I think their line scored most of their goals. So we shut them down, and lucky enough we won."
 
On staying level headed through this recent stretch: "Yeah, it's definitely been hard. It's been frustrating too. We get our looks but we haven't been able to find the back of the net, and lucky enough we did tonight. Hopefully we can do more of that."
 
On winning for families on Parents Night: "It's so fun; I think a lot of us are going out to eat with them tonight. My parents are here, definitely the mood's just gonna be a lot better than it was last night, and enjoy dinner with them."
 
Junior Defenseman Boston Buckberger
On mindset after last night's loss: "We knew we were going to be hungry tonight. I think all throughout our locker room the guys did a good job. We knew we were going to go to work and have a great game and get a good bounce back, and that's what we did. It's great growth from our group and look to keep that momentum going moving forward."
 
On Johnny Hicks' shutout: "He's awesome. He's such a hard worker off the ice and just deserves it so much to have a chance in the pipes there, and he kept us in that. He made some really nice saves on that top line. They've got great players over there. He's just a wall back there for us. You know, we can trust him. Just great to have him out. It was awesome."
 
On Payton Nelson's first collegiate goal: "It's unreal. Especially a guy who's not always in the lineup, and he deserves it so much too. He does a great job getting low in our own net and then hustling up the ice, beating his check, and that was a great pass over to him back door. To finish like that, you love to see that. The whole bench was so fired up for him. It was great."
 
On carrying momentum into next game: "I think we got to just keep building. It's going to be a good week of practice for us, making sure the intensity is high. We are good with our details throughout the whole week. We know [Minnesota Duluth is] a great team over there, and they're coming into our building. We want to make sure we get some more wins in at home here. It's been a little rough and shaky. I think it's about .500 at home. We know we play really well here at altitude. We've got to keep going here and keep building for the end of the year."
 

TICKETS: Tickets for the remaining games of DU hockey's 2025-26 campaign are available. Click here for more information.