Photo by: Tyler Schank/Clarkson Creative Photography
10/21/2026 7:00:00 PM | #4 Ice Hockey
DU hockey has won the last four meetings in the all-time series
DENVER – The No. 4-ranked University of Denver hockey team aims to get back on track this weekend as the Pioneers host the No. 18 Boston College Eagles in a two-game series at Magness Arena.
DU will be celebrating its homecoming weekend with BC in town, with the first game slated for Friday at 7 p.m. MT. Saturday's competition is set for 6 p.m. MT, and both outings will be broadcast on NCHC.tv and televised regionally on Altitude 2. Limited tickets are still available.
The Pioneers (2-2-0) began their home slate last weekend with a No. 1-versus-No. 2 matchup against second-ranked Michigan. DU lost both games but erased a two-goal deficit to tie the contest in the third period on Saturday before the Wolverines tallied on a fortuitous bounce off the end boards late in the regulation. Despite the losses of 4-1 and 4-3, Denver outshot Michigan 64-45 overall in the series.
Sophomore Kyle Chyzowski had points in both games and is on a three-game point streak, while fellow alternate captain and senior Sam Harris has scored in three of the four outings this year. Junior goaltender Tyler Krivtsov started both contests in net as sophomore Johnny Hicks missed the weekend with an upper-body injury.
Boston College (1-2-0) split its two-game set last week against NCHC-member St. Cloud State on home ice, winning 4-0 on Friday and losing 5-3 on Saturday. The Eagles began the campaign on Oct. 9 with a 3-2 loss to Alaska Fairbanks.
DU and BC are set to meet for the fourth consecutive season, but the Eagles are making their first visit to the Mile High City since Oct. 18-19, 2019. The Pioneers won 7-3 in last year's single-game meeting in Chestnut Hill and have won four straight contests against the Eagles, tying their longest win streak in the all-time series that was last accomplished in the first four matchups from 1968-1973. Dating back to 2017, Denver has won seven of the last eight games against Boston.
That current win streak over the Eagles includes the Pioneers' 2-0 win in the 2024 NCAA National Championship Game in St. Paul, Minnesota, and 3-1 victory in the 2025 NCAA Northeast Regional Final in Manchester, New Hampshire, to punch their ticket to the Frozen Four. That last win in Boston's backyard marked the first time in NCAA men's ice hockey history that a defending national champion won the rematch in the following year's national tournament.
Overall, the Pioneers hold a 23-16-0 all-time record against Boston College and sports an 11-10 mark in Denver. The Pios won both games in the Eagles' last visit in 2019, picking up victories of 3-0 and 6-4.
DU's contests against BC this weekend mark the third and fourth contest of the team's season-long, six-game homestand, which continues on Oct. 30-31 versus Omaha to begin NCHC play. Overall, the Pioneers are in a stretch where they are playing 10-of-12 games on home ice from Oct. 16-Nov. 21.
LAST TIME OUT: The then-No. 1 Pioneers dropped both games against the No. 2 Michigan Wolverines in an entertaining weekend matchup at Magness Arena. The Wolverines won 4-1 in the home opener on Friday after DU's 2026 championship banner-raising ceremony before using a fortunate bounce to pick up a 4-3 victory on Saturday. The Pios erased a two-goal deficit to knot the game in the third period, but the game-winning goal by Michigan with less than five minutes to play came after a shot went high and wide off the end glass. The puck then caromed off the top of the net and a Denver player before landing in the goal.
Denver tallied power-play goals in both games, with Kyle Chyzowski (1g/1a) and Clarke Caswell (0g/2a) picking up points in each contest. Junior goaltender Tyler Krivtsov guarded the pipes in both games and has made three consecutive starts. He stopped 16 shots on Friday and 21 on Saturday.
DEFENDING DENVER: The Pioneers presently rank third in the nation by allowing just 19.3 shots against per game, with only Wisconsin (16.8) and North Dakota (17.8) having better marks through four games.
Last season, Denver tied for fourth in the nation by allowing 2.1 goals per game, and the team held opponents to one goal or fewer in 19-of-43 contests during the year. Of DU's 25 losses since 2024-25, 16 have been by a single goal while five other games featured empty-net markers by the opponent.
NOTABLES VS. MICHIGAN
MAGNESS MADNESS: The Pioneers broke attendance records at Magness Arena during their home-opening series against Michigan. DU set a new single-game high with 7,099 attending the home opener and 2026 banner-raising ceremony on Oct. 16, while the 14,108 total fans on the weekend were the most in a two-game home series in school history (7,009 on Oct. 17 vs. Michigan). Denver's previous single-game record was 7,082 on Feb. 7, 2026 vs. Colorado College and prior two-game series mark was 13,888 on Oct. 18-19, 2024 vs. Northeastern when the Pioneers raised their 2024 championship banner to the rafters.
In 2025-26, Denver had 19 sellouts and averaged a home crowd of 6,670, setting a new single-season average attendance record. That figure includes the 12,228 people that watched the Pioneers at the NHL Colorado Avalanche's Ball Arena vs. Minnesota in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game on Nov. 29, 2025. Not including the Ball Arena game, DU's average attendance of 6,405 would be the second highest all-time.
In total, 146,736 people watched Pioneers game in Denver during the 2025-26 campaign, the second-highest in program history. Magness Arena had 135,508 total fans attend contest last season (21 games), which was third-highest since the building opened in 1999 (144,533, 2006-07; 137,744, 2024-25).
HISTORY VS. BC: Denver and Boston College are meeting for the fourth straight season, but the Eagles are making their first visit to the Mile High City since Oct. 18-19, 2019 when the Pioneers won 3-0 and 6-4 to sweep the series. Each of the previous five matchups since then have come either in Chestnut Hill or in the NCAA Tournament. Denver has won each of the last four meetings dating back to Oct. 21, 2023, tied for the longest winning streak for either program in the all-time series; DU also won the first four ever meetings from 1968-1973. This win streak includes the Pioneers' 2-0 win over the Eagles in the 2024 NCAA National Championship Game in St. Paul, Minn., and a 3-1 victory in the 2025 NCAA Northeast Regional Final in Manchester, N.H., to punch their ticket to the Frozen Four. That win marked the first time in NCAA history that a team won a national title rematch the following season after winning the championship. Overall, the Pioneers own a 23-16-0 all-time record against the BC Eagles and have an 11-10 mark as the home team. DU is 7-3-0 in the last 10 games and owns a 7-1 record in the past eight matchups since Oct. 28, 2017. The Pios have a 7-5-0 record in Chestnut Hill and are 5-1-0 in neutral-site games and 4-1 in the national tournament against BC, with their only defeat coming at the hands of Jonny Gaudreau in the 2014 Regional Semifinal in Worcester, Mass.
CONNECTIONS: The Pioneers' Jake Fisher and the Eagles' Jake Sondreal are both from Woodbury, Minn., with Fisher and Sondreal also playing Minnesota High School hockey together from 2019-2022 with Cretin-Derham Hall … Sondreal played with Paxton Geisel in 2022-23 and two seasons with James Reeder from 2022-2024 with the USHL Dubuque Fighting Saints … Tom Delay was a teammate of Brady Milburn on the BCHL Chilliwack Chiefs from 2022-23 … Boston College has five players from the U.S. National Team Development Program on its team, with Kristian Epperson and Brendan McMorrow playing with Teddy Stiga for two seasons from 2022-2024 and were at the NTDP at the same time as Will Vote in 2022-23 and Will Moore in 2023-24 … Mikey Berchild (2024-2026) also spent time at the NTDP with Moore (2024-25) and was a teammate for the past two years with Casey Mutryn and Luke Schairer from 2024-2026 … Stiga was on the 2025 U.S. World Junior Team that was led by Denver head coach David Carle and scored the overtime-winning goal in the final vs. Finland to give the Americans consecutive gold medals for the first time in their tournament history … Louka Cloutier was selected in the fifth round (132nd overall) by the Colorado Avalanche in the 2025 NHL Draft … Denver Athletics Director Josh Berlo earned his undergraduate degree in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (UMass '99) … DU Director of Sports Performance Matt Shaw spent five years working in athletic departments in the Boston area (four with Boston University, one with Harvard) and earned his college degrees at BU ('10, '11).
PREVIOUS MEETING (OCT. 24, 2025): The No. 7 University of Denver hockey team used a three-goal second period to break open a top-10 matchup at the No. 9 Boston College Eagles and win 7-3 at Kelley Rink at Conte Forum. Seven different Pioneers and all four forward lines produced goals, while juniors Boston Buckberger and Kieran Cebrian and sophomore Hagen Burrows each registered two assists in the victory. Freshmen forwards Kristian Epperson and Brendan McMorrow both netted their first career goals, while rookie defenseman Eric Jamieson potted his second marker of the season. Senior Rieger Lorenz, juniors Sam Harris and Eric Pohlkamp and sophomore Jake Fisher also found the back of the net. Goaltender Quentin Miller made 31 saves on 34 shots, as he was playing in front of several family and friends that made the six-hour drive from his hometown in Montreal, Quebec. Boston College opened the game's scoring at 9:06 of the first period, but Pohlkamp and Epperson both tallied on outside shots to give DU its first lead evening. BC tied the contest just prior to the intermission before Denver took the lead for good. The Pios tallied three unanswered goals in the second, including Jamieson and Harris netting markers in a matter of 1:36 early in the frame.
SCOUTING THE EAGLES: Boston College ranks No. 18 in the newest USCHO.com poll and is No. 17 in the USA Hockey rankings that came out on Monday. The Eagles are 1-2-0 on the season and are coming off a weekend split at home against another NCHC opponent in St. Cloud State. BC won 4-0 on Friday before falling 5-3 on Saturday. After splitting its exhibition slate vs. Michigan State (5-2 loss) and the U.S. National Team Development Program (10-1 win) on Oct. 2-3, Boston College dropped its home opener to Alaska Fairbanks by a 3-2 score on Oct. 9. The Eagles begin Hockey East play next weekend when they host in-town rival Northeastern in Chestnut Hill. Dean Letourneau leads the team with four points with two goals and two assists, while Oscar Hemming has also tallied multiple markers this year and owns three points through the first three contests (2g/1a). Louka Cloutier has started two of the games in net for the Eagles and owns a 1-1-0 record, 1.52 goals-against average, .947 save percentage and a shutout—a 28-save clean sheet from Friday against St. Cloud. Leo Henriquez guarded the pipes on Saturday for BC and finished with 20 saves on 25 shots faced in the loss to the SCSU Huskies.
WHAT A RUN: The Pioneers had their 19-game unbeaten streak (18-0-1) that dated back to Jan. 24 of last season come to an end with their loss to No. 2 Michigan on Oct. 16. Denver went 16-0-1 down the stretch in their championship-winning campaign of 2025-26 and the 19-game run overall was the fifth-longest in program history and the longest since winning 21 straight contests at the end of 2023-24 and the start of 2024-25. The Pios' 17-game unbeaten stretch to close last season was the fourth-longest in a single campaign and the longest since going 22-0-0 in 1966-67.
The Pios' run to end 2025-26 also marked their second stretch of the season where they went at least 12 contests without losing in regulation, as the team had nine wins and three overtime losses from Oct. 31-Dec. 12 in a stretch that included sweeps at defending national champion Western Michigan (Nov. 7-8), against rival Colorado College (Nov. 14-15) and at home versus Miami (Dec. 5-6).
DU won 15 straight games starting from Feb. 7 against Colorado College to Oct. 3 at Alaska Anchorage, marking the sixth-longest overall win streak in the school annals. The squad's 13 victories to close 2025-26 was tied for the fourth-longest win streak in a single season and the most since the 2016-17 squad also won 13 in a row (1977-78 as well).
The Pioneers finished 2025-26 by matching a season best by going unbeaten in their last four true road contests (3-0-1) and by winning their last 10 home games—the longest home-winning stretch in a single season since posting 19 straight victories in its friendly confines from Dec. 8, 1967-March 9, 1968.
PIONEERS IN THE POLLS: Denver dropped to No. 4 in both the USCHO.com and USA Hockey media polls on Monday following their two losses last week to Michigan, the new No. 1 team. DU was the top team in the country in each of the first three polls after winning the national title last season.
The NCHC has five teams ranked and leads all conferences with four in the top 10, as North Dakota (3/3), Western Michigan (5/5), Minnesota Duluth (9/8) and Colorado College (12/11) also earning a spot in the rankings. Miami and Arizona State also earned votes in both polls while St. Cloud State and St. Thomas also picked up tallies in the USCHO ranking. Hockey East has the most ranked teams with seven but only has Providence in the top 10 (9/9).
A GOLDEN AGE OF PIONEER HOCKEY: The Pioneers are big fans of even years, as they won their third national championship in the past five years, with 2026 joining their recent title runs in 2022 and 2024.
DU dispatched a pair of Big Ten Conference foes in last year's NCAA Frozen Four in Las Vegas and earned comeback victories in each game. Senior captain Kent Anderson scored in double-overtime on April 9 in a 4-3 win against No. 1 Michigan before senior Rieger Lorenz and freshman Kyle Chyzowski netted third-period markers and goaltender Johnny Hicks didn't allow a goal after the first period, making 29 saves overall in the 2-1 victory on April 11.
Denver has reached the national semifinals four times in the past five years and has made seven trips to the Frozen Four in the previous 10-held tournaments dating back to 2016. This is the third time in their history that the Pios have made the final weekend seven times in 10 years (also 1960-1969 and 1964-1973), and they are the only program to reach the national semifinals seven times in a decade during the current 16-team format of the NCAA Tournament that began in 2003.
The Pios are the first program since Boston College (2008-2012) to win three titles in a five-year span ('08, '10, '12), and counting Denver's win in the 2017 title game, DU (1960-1969) itself was the last program to win four championships in a 10-year span ('60, '61, '68, '69).
Denver's six national championships since 2000 is the most in college hockey (also 2004 and 2005) while its nine trips to the Frozen Four since 2004 are tied for first in the nation with Boston College and North Dakota.
JOHNNY BE GOOD, JOHNNY BE GREAT: Goaltender Johnny Hicks capped off a historic season by helping lead the Pioneers to the national title as a freshman in 2025-26. He became the first DU goaltender to go unbeaten in his first 17 career decisions, posting a 16-0-1 record in 2025-26 after entering early in the first period on Jan. 24 vs. St. Cloud State following an injury to starter Quentin Miller.
The Kamloops, British Columbia, native appeared in 21 total games during the year and started each of the final 16 contests, with his .957 save percentage setting an NCAA record and his 1.19 goals-against average tied with Jimmy Howard for second-best all-time in a single season. He recorded his third individual shutout in the NCAA West Regional Semifinals on March 27 against Cornell before two memorable performances in the 2026 Frozen Four in Las Vegas.
Hicks made a career-high 49 saves on 52 shots in a 4-3 double-overtime win vs. No. 1 Michigan in the semifinals on April 9 before stopping 29-of-30 shots faced, including all 20 in the final two periods of play, in a 2-1 victory against Wisconsin in the national championship game on April 11.
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.
DU will be celebrating its homecoming weekend with BC in town, with the first game slated for Friday at 7 p.m. MT. Saturday's competition is set for 6 p.m. MT, and both outings will be broadcast on NCHC.tv and televised regionally on Altitude 2. Limited tickets are still available.
The Pioneers (2-2-0) began their home slate last weekend with a No. 1-versus-No. 2 matchup against second-ranked Michigan. DU lost both games but erased a two-goal deficit to tie the contest in the third period on Saturday before the Wolverines tallied on a fortuitous bounce off the end boards late in the regulation. Despite the losses of 4-1 and 4-3, Denver outshot Michigan 64-45 overall in the series.
Sophomore Kyle Chyzowski had points in both games and is on a three-game point streak, while fellow alternate captain and senior Sam Harris has scored in three of the four outings this year. Junior goaltender Tyler Krivtsov started both contests in net as sophomore Johnny Hicks missed the weekend with an upper-body injury.
Boston College (1-2-0) split its two-game set last week against NCHC-member St. Cloud State on home ice, winning 4-0 on Friday and losing 5-3 on Saturday. The Eagles began the campaign on Oct. 9 with a 3-2 loss to Alaska Fairbanks.
DU and BC are set to meet for the fourth consecutive season, but the Eagles are making their first visit to the Mile High City since Oct. 18-19, 2019. The Pioneers won 7-3 in last year's single-game meeting in Chestnut Hill and have won four straight contests against the Eagles, tying their longest win streak in the all-time series that was last accomplished in the first four matchups from 1968-1973. Dating back to 2017, Denver has won seven of the last eight games against Boston.
That current win streak over the Eagles includes the Pioneers' 2-0 win in the 2024 NCAA National Championship Game in St. Paul, Minnesota, and 3-1 victory in the 2025 NCAA Northeast Regional Final in Manchester, New Hampshire, to punch their ticket to the Frozen Four. That last win in Boston's backyard marked the first time in NCAA men's ice hockey history that a defending national champion won the rematch in the following year's national tournament.
Overall, the Pioneers hold a 23-16-0 all-time record against Boston College and sports an 11-10 mark in Denver. The Pios won both games in the Eagles' last visit in 2019, picking up victories of 3-0 and 6-4.
DU's contests against BC this weekend mark the third and fourth contest of the team's season-long, six-game homestand, which continues on Oct. 30-31 versus Omaha to begin NCHC play. Overall, the Pioneers are in a stretch where they are playing 10-of-12 games on home ice from Oct. 16-Nov. 21.
LAST TIME OUT: The then-No. 1 Pioneers dropped both games against the No. 2 Michigan Wolverines in an entertaining weekend matchup at Magness Arena. The Wolverines won 4-1 in the home opener on Friday after DU's 2026 championship banner-raising ceremony before using a fortunate bounce to pick up a 4-3 victory on Saturday. The Pios erased a two-goal deficit to knot the game in the third period, but the game-winning goal by Michigan with less than five minutes to play came after a shot went high and wide off the end glass. The puck then caromed off the top of the net and a Denver player before landing in the goal.
Denver tallied power-play goals in both games, with Kyle Chyzowski (1g/1a) and Clarke Caswell (0g/2a) picking up points in each contest. Junior goaltender Tyler Krivtsov guarded the pipes in both games and has made three consecutive starts. He stopped 16 shots on Friday and 21 on Saturday.
DEFENDING DENVER: The Pioneers presently rank third in the nation by allowing just 19.3 shots against per game, with only Wisconsin (16.8) and North Dakota (17.8) having better marks through four games.
Last season, Denver tied for fourth in the nation by allowing 2.1 goals per game, and the team held opponents to one goal or fewer in 19-of-43 contests during the year. Of DU's 25 losses since 2024-25, 16 have been by a single goal while five other games featured empty-net markers by the opponent.
NOTABLES VS. MICHIGAN
- 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 were playing their first No. 1-vs.-No. 2 game 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.
- DU is now 54-19-5 all-time in home openers and owns a 20-6-2 record on opening nights at Magness Arena. The Pios had gone unbeaten in each of their last nine home openers (7-0-2).
- Denver has a 9-3-0 record in games against Big Ten Conference opponents since 2018-19.
- The last time DU was swept in a home series was Jan. 9-10, 2026 vs. Western Michigan.
- Denver scored twice on the power play on Saturday for the second time this season and has tallied with the man advantage in all four games this year.
- Kyle Chyzowski is on a three-game point streak (1g/2a) dating back to Oct. 3 at Alaska Anchorage.
- Kristian Epperson (1g/1a) had his second multi-point game of the season and sixth of his career.
- Epperson had seven shots on goal on Saturday to tie a career best (Nov. 1, 2025 vs. Alaska Anchorage).
- Sam Harris has scored in three of the four games this year and registered his first multi-point outing of the season on Saturday; he recorded his 20th career power-play goal and added an assist in the contest vs. the Wolverines.
- The Pioneers won a season-high 39 faceoffs on Saturday.
- Sophomore goaltender Johnny Hicks missed his second game of the season with an upper-body injury (day-to-day).
MAGNESS MADNESS: The Pioneers broke attendance records at Magness Arena during their home-opening series against Michigan. DU set a new single-game high with 7,099 attending the home opener and 2026 banner-raising ceremony on Oct. 16, while the 14,108 total fans on the weekend were the most in a two-game home series in school history (7,009 on Oct. 17 vs. Michigan). Denver's previous single-game record was 7,082 on Feb. 7, 2026 vs. Colorado College and prior two-game series mark was 13,888 on Oct. 18-19, 2024 vs. Northeastern when the Pioneers raised their 2024 championship banner to the rafters.
In 2025-26, Denver had 19 sellouts and averaged a home crowd of 6,670, setting a new single-season average attendance record. That figure includes the 12,228 people that watched the Pioneers at the NHL Colorado Avalanche's Ball Arena vs. Minnesota in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game on Nov. 29, 2025. Not including the Ball Arena game, DU's average attendance of 6,405 would be the second highest all-time.
In total, 146,736 people watched Pioneers game in Denver during the 2025-26 campaign, the second-highest in program history. Magness Arena had 135,508 total fans attend contest last season (21 games), which was third-highest since the building opened in 1999 (144,533, 2006-07; 137,744, 2024-25).
HISTORY VS. BC: Denver and Boston College are meeting for the fourth straight season, but the Eagles are making their first visit to the Mile High City since Oct. 18-19, 2019 when the Pioneers won 3-0 and 6-4 to sweep the series. Each of the previous five matchups since then have come either in Chestnut Hill or in the NCAA Tournament. Denver has won each of the last four meetings dating back to Oct. 21, 2023, tied for the longest winning streak for either program in the all-time series; DU also won the first four ever meetings from 1968-1973. This win streak includes the Pioneers' 2-0 win over the Eagles in the 2024 NCAA National Championship Game in St. Paul, Minn., and a 3-1 victory in the 2025 NCAA Northeast Regional Final in Manchester, N.H., to punch their ticket to the Frozen Four. That win marked the first time in NCAA history that a team won a national title rematch the following season after winning the championship. Overall, the Pioneers own a 23-16-0 all-time record against the BC Eagles and have an 11-10 mark as the home team. DU is 7-3-0 in the last 10 games and owns a 7-1 record in the past eight matchups since Oct. 28, 2017. The Pios have a 7-5-0 record in Chestnut Hill and are 5-1-0 in neutral-site games and 4-1 in the national tournament against BC, with their only defeat coming at the hands of Jonny Gaudreau in the 2014 Regional Semifinal in Worcester, Mass.
CONNECTIONS: The Pioneers' Jake Fisher and the Eagles' Jake Sondreal are both from Woodbury, Minn., with Fisher and Sondreal also playing Minnesota High School hockey together from 2019-2022 with Cretin-Derham Hall … Sondreal played with Paxton Geisel in 2022-23 and two seasons with James Reeder from 2022-2024 with the USHL Dubuque Fighting Saints … Tom Delay was a teammate of Brady Milburn on the BCHL Chilliwack Chiefs from 2022-23 … Boston College has five players from the U.S. National Team Development Program on its team, with Kristian Epperson and Brendan McMorrow playing with Teddy Stiga for two seasons from 2022-2024 and were at the NTDP at the same time as Will Vote in 2022-23 and Will Moore in 2023-24 … Mikey Berchild (2024-2026) also spent time at the NTDP with Moore (2024-25) and was a teammate for the past two years with Casey Mutryn and Luke Schairer from 2024-2026 … Stiga was on the 2025 U.S. World Junior Team that was led by Denver head coach David Carle and scored the overtime-winning goal in the final vs. Finland to give the Americans consecutive gold medals for the first time in their tournament history … Louka Cloutier was selected in the fifth round (132nd overall) by the Colorado Avalanche in the 2025 NHL Draft … Denver Athletics Director Josh Berlo earned his undergraduate degree in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (UMass '99) … DU Director of Sports Performance Matt Shaw spent five years working in athletic departments in the Boston area (four with Boston University, one with Harvard) and earned his college degrees at BU ('10, '11).
PREVIOUS MEETING (OCT. 24, 2025): The No. 7 University of Denver hockey team used a three-goal second period to break open a top-10 matchup at the No. 9 Boston College Eagles and win 7-3 at Kelley Rink at Conte Forum. Seven different Pioneers and all four forward lines produced goals, while juniors Boston Buckberger and Kieran Cebrian and sophomore Hagen Burrows each registered two assists in the victory. Freshmen forwards Kristian Epperson and Brendan McMorrow both netted their first career goals, while rookie defenseman Eric Jamieson potted his second marker of the season. Senior Rieger Lorenz, juniors Sam Harris and Eric Pohlkamp and sophomore Jake Fisher also found the back of the net. Goaltender Quentin Miller made 31 saves on 34 shots, as he was playing in front of several family and friends that made the six-hour drive from his hometown in Montreal, Quebec. Boston College opened the game's scoring at 9:06 of the first period, but Pohlkamp and Epperson both tallied on outside shots to give DU its first lead evening. BC tied the contest just prior to the intermission before Denver took the lead for good. The Pios tallied three unanswered goals in the second, including Jamieson and Harris netting markers in a matter of 1:36 early in the frame.
SCOUTING THE EAGLES: Boston College ranks No. 18 in the newest USCHO.com poll and is No. 17 in the USA Hockey rankings that came out on Monday. The Eagles are 1-2-0 on the season and are coming off a weekend split at home against another NCHC opponent in St. Cloud State. BC won 4-0 on Friday before falling 5-3 on Saturday. After splitting its exhibition slate vs. Michigan State (5-2 loss) and the U.S. National Team Development Program (10-1 win) on Oct. 2-3, Boston College dropped its home opener to Alaska Fairbanks by a 3-2 score on Oct. 9. The Eagles begin Hockey East play next weekend when they host in-town rival Northeastern in Chestnut Hill. Dean Letourneau leads the team with four points with two goals and two assists, while Oscar Hemming has also tallied multiple markers this year and owns three points through the first three contests (2g/1a). Louka Cloutier has started two of the games in net for the Eagles and owns a 1-1-0 record, 1.52 goals-against average, .947 save percentage and a shutout—a 28-save clean sheet from Friday against St. Cloud. Leo Henriquez guarded the pipes on Saturday for BC and finished with 20 saves on 25 shots faced in the loss to the SCSU Huskies.
WHAT A RUN: The Pioneers had their 19-game unbeaten streak (18-0-1) that dated back to Jan. 24 of last season come to an end with their loss to No. 2 Michigan on Oct. 16. Denver went 16-0-1 down the stretch in their championship-winning campaign of 2025-26 and the 19-game run overall was the fifth-longest in program history and the longest since winning 21 straight contests at the end of 2023-24 and the start of 2024-25. The Pios' 17-game unbeaten stretch to close last season was the fourth-longest in a single campaign and the longest since going 22-0-0 in 1966-67.
The Pios' run to end 2025-26 also marked their second stretch of the season where they went at least 12 contests without losing in regulation, as the team had nine wins and three overtime losses from Oct. 31-Dec. 12 in a stretch that included sweeps at defending national champion Western Michigan (Nov. 7-8), against rival Colorado College (Nov. 14-15) and at home versus Miami (Dec. 5-6).
DU won 15 straight games starting from Feb. 7 against Colorado College to Oct. 3 at Alaska Anchorage, marking the sixth-longest overall win streak in the school annals. The squad's 13 victories to close 2025-26 was tied for the fourth-longest win streak in a single season and the most since the 2016-17 squad also won 13 in a row (1977-78 as well).
The Pioneers finished 2025-26 by matching a season best by going unbeaten in their last four true road contests (3-0-1) and by winning their last 10 home games—the longest home-winning stretch in a single season since posting 19 straight victories in its friendly confines from Dec. 8, 1967-March 9, 1968.
PIONEERS IN THE POLLS: Denver dropped to No. 4 in both the USCHO.com and USA Hockey media polls on Monday following their two losses last week to Michigan, the new No. 1 team. DU was the top team in the country in each of the first three polls after winning the national title last season.
The NCHC has five teams ranked and leads all conferences with four in the top 10, as North Dakota (3/3), Western Michigan (5/5), Minnesota Duluth (9/8) and Colorado College (12/11) also earning a spot in the rankings. Miami and Arizona State also earned votes in both polls while St. Cloud State and St. Thomas also picked up tallies in the USCHO ranking. Hockey East has the most ranked teams with seven but only has Providence in the top 10 (9/9).
A GOLDEN AGE OF PIONEER HOCKEY: The Pioneers are big fans of even years, as they won their third national championship in the past five years, with 2026 joining their recent title runs in 2022 and 2024.
DU dispatched a pair of Big Ten Conference foes in last year's NCAA Frozen Four in Las Vegas and earned comeback victories in each game. Senior captain Kent Anderson scored in double-overtime on April 9 in a 4-3 win against No. 1 Michigan before senior Rieger Lorenz and freshman Kyle Chyzowski netted third-period markers and goaltender Johnny Hicks didn't allow a goal after the first period, making 29 saves overall in the 2-1 victory on April 11.
Denver has reached the national semifinals four times in the past five years and has made seven trips to the Frozen Four in the previous 10-held tournaments dating back to 2016. This is the third time in their history that the Pios have made the final weekend seven times in 10 years (also 1960-1969 and 1964-1973), and they are the only program to reach the national semifinals seven times in a decade during the current 16-team format of the NCAA Tournament that began in 2003.
The Pios are the first program since Boston College (2008-2012) to win three titles in a five-year span ('08, '10, '12), and counting Denver's win in the 2017 title game, DU (1960-1969) itself was the last program to win four championships in a 10-year span ('60, '61, '68, '69).
Denver's six national championships since 2000 is the most in college hockey (also 2004 and 2005) while its nine trips to the Frozen Four since 2004 are tied for first in the nation with Boston College and North Dakota.
JOHNNY BE GOOD, JOHNNY BE GREAT: Goaltender Johnny Hicks capped off a historic season by helping lead the Pioneers to the national title as a freshman in 2025-26. He became the first DU goaltender to go unbeaten in his first 17 career decisions, posting a 16-0-1 record in 2025-26 after entering early in the first period on Jan. 24 vs. St. Cloud State following an injury to starter Quentin Miller.
The Kamloops, British Columbia, native appeared in 21 total games during the year and started each of the final 16 contests, with his .957 save percentage setting an NCAA record and his 1.19 goals-against average tied with Jimmy Howard for second-best all-time in a single season. He recorded his third individual shutout in the NCAA West Regional Semifinals on March 27 against Cornell before two memorable performances in the 2026 Frozen Four in Las Vegas.
Hicks made a career-high 49 saves on 52 shots in a 4-3 double-overtime win vs. No. 1 Michigan in the semifinals on April 9 before stopping 29-of-30 shots faced, including all 20 in the final two periods of play, in a 2-1 victory against Wisconsin in the national championship game on April 11.
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
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Defenseman
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Goaltender
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Forward
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Goaltender
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Defenseman
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Goaltender
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Forward
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Forward
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Forward
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Goaltender
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Defenseman
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Forward
/ #4 Ice HockeySunday, October 18
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