Saturday, October 17
Denver, Colo.
6 p.m. MT
University of Denver
2-2-0
3
vs
4
Michigan
6-0-0
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | F |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michigan | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Denver | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
Photo by: Tyler Schank/Clarkson Creative Photography
No. 1 Pioneers Comeback Not Enough vs. No.2 Michigan
10/17/2026 10:52:00 PM | (1) Ice Hockey
Denver hockey rallied from two-goal deficit before Wolverines scored a late goal
DENVER – The No. 1 University of Denver hockey team rallied from a two-goal deficit to tie the game in the third period, but a fortuitous bounce late helped the No. 2 Michigan Wolverines defeat the Pioneers 4-3 on Saturday at Magness Arena.
Denver senior captain Kieran Cebrian tied the contest at 3-3 by knocking in a rebound at 5:38 of the third period, but Michigan took the lead with 4:53 remaining after Asher Barnett's shot from the blue line went wide high and caromed off the end glass, the top of the net and off a DU player before landing in the cage.
The Pioneers (2-2-0) outshot the Wolverines (6-0-0) 14-4 in the third stanza, including a fury of pucks on UM goalie Jack Ivankovic in the closing minutes, but couldn't equalize the series finale one more time.
"I think we are process oriented on the results," Cebrian said. "It's Oct. 17, I don't think we need to overthink the results, as long as we stick to our process, do what we do best. I think over the next few months more success will come."
Denver tallied twice on the power play and finished 2-for-6 on the man advantage. Sophomore forward Kristian Epperson had a goal and an assist, as he opened the scoring at 8:47 of the first period. Senior Sam Harris also tallied while the Pios had the extra player on the ice at 11:45 of the second to start the comeback bid, knocking in a loose puck in the blue paint.
The Pioneers were able to put the puck across the goal line in two other instances, but both times were called off following an official review; one for the net coming off its moorings and the other with the referee determining the whistle was about to blow after losing sight of the puck behind the UM netminder.
Garrett Schifsky tied the game at 1-1 for Michigan 2:03 after Epperson scored in the first, and the Wolverines had a lead going into the intermission following Adam Valentini's power-play marker with 3:48 left in the frame. Jayden Perron pushed UM's lead to 3-1 after tallying short-side during a rush 4:10 into the second period.
Denver outshot Michigan 36-25 in the game, with Ivankovic finishing with 33 saves. DU netminder Tyler Krivtsov made 21 saves on the evening while making his third straight start.
DU had two opportunities on a 5-on-3 power play in the contest—a 1:51 advantage late in the second frame and 1:49 of extra-man time early in the third—but couldn't capitalize on either.
The weekend series marked a Frozen Four rematch from when the teams met on April 9 in Las Vegas and was the first No. 1 vs. No. 2 game that DU had played in since 2016. Additionally, Michigan was making its first visit to Denver since March 1981.
UP NEXT: Denver resumes its six-game homestand next week as it hosts Boston College on homecoming weekend. Friday's game begins at 7 p.m. MT and Saturday's puck drop is at 6 p.m. MT. The Pioneers then begin conference play against Omaha on Oct. 30-31.
POSTGAME NOTES
GOAL SUMMARY
1st Period
8:47 DU (1-0) – PPG, Kristian Epperson one-touched a wrister from the slot after receiving a pass from Clarke Caswell.
10:50 UM (1-1) – Garrett Schifsky scored on a rebound at the top of the crease following a shot from the point.
16:12 UM (1-2) – PPG, Adam Valentini one-timed a snap shot from the left circle off passes from Landon DuPont and Henry Mews at the left side.
2nd Period
4:19 UM (1-3) – Jayden Perron scored short-side on a wrist shot while skating in from the right.
11:45 DU (2-3) – PPG, Sam Harris knocked in the puck in the blue paint after it rebound following a Denver shot.
3rd Period
5:38 DU (3-3) – Kieran Cebrian knocked in the puck at the top of the crease from a shot at the left circle by Jake Fisher.
15:07 UM (3-4) – Asher Barnett fired a shot from near the blue line, and the puck pinballed off the end boards, the top of the net and a Denver player before landing in the goal.
QUOTABLES
Senior Captain Kieran Cebrian
On the home-opening weekend: "It was a great atmosphere. It was fun to be in front of our fans, and they were awesome this weekend. But Michigan is a good team, they got a good bounce at the end, so we have a lot to be proud of. Our young guys have showed a lot of growth over our last four games, so we're proud of them and we're looking forward to next week."
On playing Boston College next week: "Yeah, we are looking forward to that too. I think it will be another great weekend, another chance to build on what we did this weekend and build a bit of confidence as well."
TICKETS: Single-game tickets as well as mini plans and group packages for the DU hockey's championship-defense campaign in 2026-27 are on sale now. Click here for more information.
Denver senior captain Kieran Cebrian tied the contest at 3-3 by knocking in a rebound at 5:38 of the third period, but Michigan took the lead with 4:53 remaining after Asher Barnett's shot from the blue line went wide high and caromed off the end glass, the top of the net and off a DU player before landing in the cage.
The Pioneers (2-2-0) outshot the Wolverines (6-0-0) 14-4 in the third stanza, including a fury of pucks on UM goalie Jack Ivankovic in the closing minutes, but couldn't equalize the series finale one more time.
"I think we are process oriented on the results," Cebrian said. "It's Oct. 17, I don't think we need to overthink the results, as long as we stick to our process, do what we do best. I think over the next few months more success will come."
Denver tallied twice on the power play and finished 2-for-6 on the man advantage. Sophomore forward Kristian Epperson had a goal and an assist, as he opened the scoring at 8:47 of the first period. Senior Sam Harris also tallied while the Pios had the extra player on the ice at 11:45 of the second to start the comeback bid, knocking in a loose puck in the blue paint.
The Pioneers were able to put the puck across the goal line in two other instances, but both times were called off following an official review; one for the net coming off its moorings and the other with the referee determining the whistle was about to blow after losing sight of the puck behind the UM netminder.
Garrett Schifsky tied the game at 1-1 for Michigan 2:03 after Epperson scored in the first, and the Wolverines had a lead going into the intermission following Adam Valentini's power-play marker with 3:48 left in the frame. Jayden Perron pushed UM's lead to 3-1 after tallying short-side during a rush 4:10 into the second period.
Denver outshot Michigan 36-25 in the game, with Ivankovic finishing with 33 saves. DU netminder Tyler Krivtsov made 21 saves on the evening while making his third straight start.
DU had two opportunities on a 5-on-3 power play in the contest—a 1:51 advantage late in the second frame and 1:49 of extra-man time early in the third—but couldn't capitalize on either.
The weekend series marked a Frozen Four rematch from when the teams met on April 9 in Las Vegas and was the first No. 1 vs. No. 2 game that DU had played in since 2016. Additionally, Michigan was making its first visit to Denver since March 1981.
UP NEXT: Denver resumes its six-game homestand next week as it hosts Boston College on homecoming weekend. Friday's game begins at 7 p.m. MT and Saturday's puck drop is at 6 p.m. MT. The Pioneers then begin conference play against Omaha on Oct. 30-31.
POSTGAME NOTES
- Denver now has a 48-38-1 all-time record against Michigan and is 27-14-0 at home in the series.
- The teams were playing their first non-national tournament games since March 5-7, 1981 when they faced off in the WCHA Playoffs at the old DU Arena. Their previous regular-season series against one another was Feb. 20-21, 1981 in Ann Arbor.
- The Pioneers have a 3-4-0 record in No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchups since 1999. DU was playing its first 1-versus-2 series since Dec. 9-10, 2016 at home against then No. 1 Minnesota Duluth. The last time DU was the No. 1 squad and played the No. 2 program was Feb. 22-23, 2002 vs. St. Cloud State at Magness Arena.
- Denver owns a 9-3-0 mark in games against Big Ten Conference opponents since 2018-19.
- Saturday's attendance was 7,009 and 14,108 total attendance on the weekend set a new Magness Arena record for the most in a two-game series. The previous high was 13,888 during the last banner-raising weekend against Northeastern on Oct. 18-19, 2024.
- The Pioneers won a season-high 39 faceoffs.
- Kristian Epperson had his second multi-point game of the season and sixth of his career.
- Sam Harris has scored in three of the four games this year and registered his first multi-point outing the season.
- Sophomore goaltender Johnny Hicks missed his second game of the season with an upper-body injury and is listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
GOAL SUMMARY
1st Period
8:47 DU (1-0) – PPG, Kristian Epperson one-touched a wrister from the slot after receiving a pass from Clarke Caswell.
10:50 UM (1-1) – Garrett Schifsky scored on a rebound at the top of the crease following a shot from the point.
16:12 UM (1-2) – PPG, Adam Valentini one-timed a snap shot from the left circle off passes from Landon DuPont and Henry Mews at the left side.
2nd Period
4:19 UM (1-3) – Jayden Perron scored short-side on a wrist shot while skating in from the right.
11:45 DU (2-3) – PPG, Sam Harris knocked in the puck in the blue paint after it rebound following a Denver shot.
3rd Period
5:38 DU (3-3) – Kieran Cebrian knocked in the puck at the top of the crease from a shot at the left circle by Jake Fisher.
15:07 UM (3-4) – Asher Barnett fired a shot from near the blue line, and the puck pinballed off the end boards, the top of the net and a Denver player before landing in the goal.
QUOTABLES
Senior Captain Kieran Cebrian
On the home-opening weekend: "It was a great atmosphere. It was fun to be in front of our fans, and they were awesome this weekend. But Michigan is a good team, they got a good bounce at the end, so we have a lot to be proud of. Our young guys have showed a lot of growth over our last four games, so we're proud of them and we're looking forward to next week."
On playing Boston College next week: "Yeah, we are looking forward to that too. I think it will be another great weekend, another chance to build on what we did this weekend and build a bit of confidence as well."
TICKETS: Single-game tickets as well as mini plans and group packages for the DU hockey's championship-defense campaign in 2026-27 are on sale now. Click here for more information.
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Visit DenverPioneers.com for complete coverage of all 18 of DU's NCAA Division I sports
Like Denver Pioneers and Denver Hockey on Facebook
Follow @DU_Pioneers and @DU_Hockey on X
Follow @DenverPioneers and @DU_Hockey on Instagram
Players Mentioned
Forward
/ (1) Ice Hockey
Forward
/ (1) Ice Hockey
Forward
/ (1) Ice Hockey
Forward
/ (1) Ice Hockey
Forward
/ (1) Ice Hockey
Goaltender
/ (1) Ice Hockey
Goaltender
/ (1) Ice HockeyTeam Stats
MIC
DEN
Shots
25
36
PPG
1
2
SHG
0
0
Penalties
8
5
Penalty Mins
16
10
Faceoffs Won
36
39
Game Leaders
+/-
0
Goals
1
Sh
7
A
1
+/-
0
Goals
1
Sh
2
A
1
+/-
0
Goals
1
Sh
3
A
0
+/-
-2
Goals
0
Sh
3
A
1
Sunday, October 18
Saturday, October 17
Saturday, October 17
Friday, October 16
