PREVIEW: No. 1 Pioneers Host USA Under-18 Team

Saturday, October 10

Denver, Colo.

6 p.m. MT

University of Denver

USA Hockey Under-18 Team

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DENVER, COLORADO - NOVEMBER 14: The Denver Pioneers men’s ice hockey team takes on Colorado College at Magness Arena in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Tyler Schank/Clarkson Creative Photography)

Photo by: Tyler Schank/Clarkson Creative Photography

10/9/2026 10:00:00 AM | (1) Ice Hockey

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DU hockey takes on the U.S. National Team Development Program in an exhibition

By: Ron Knabenbauer

DENVER – The No. 1-nationally ranked University of Denver hockey team returns to home ice on Saturday as the Pioneers host the U.S. National Team Development Program's Under-18 in an exhibition at Magness Arena.

Game time is set for 6 p.m. MT and the contest will be broadcast exclusively on NCHC.tv.

The Pioneers began the 2026-27 campaign last weekend at Alaska Anchorage where they won 6-2 on Friday in the season opener and 4-1 on Saturday to sweep the road series. Freshman defenseman Daxon Rudolph led DU in scoring with five total points on one goal and four assists, while sophomore Kristian Epperson recorded three assists overall. Junior Jake Fisher recorded his first career multi-goal game in last Friday's win, and senior Sam Harris finished both contests with a tally.

DU is expected to have all three of its goaltenders play in the exhibition versus Team USA in sophomore Johnny Hicks, junior Tyler Krivtsov and senior Paxton Geisel. Hicks got the start in the season opener and stopped 14-of-16 shots, while Krivtsov guarded the pipes last Saturday and made 15-of-16 saves in his first outing against his former team.

Denver and the U.S. National Team Development Program have played in four exhibitions in their history, but the young Americans are making their first trip to the Mile High City since 2011. The Pioneers are 4-0 all-time in exhibitions and won 3-0 in the squad's last meeting on Oct. 7, 2011.

The National Team Development Program is a two-year program in Plymouth, Michigan, that features some of the best American hockey players who suit up for an Under-17 team and Under-18 team. The NTDP competes in the United States Hockey League—the top junior league in the U.S.—as well as at several international competitions throughout the season representing USA Hockey, including the Hlinka-Gretzky Cup, Four and Five Nations Tournaments, and the IIHF U18 World Championship. Many players on the national team have already committed to playing college hockey in future seasons.

The Under-18 team plays several games against NCAA squads as exhibitions throughout the year, with the group opening play last week versus Notre Dame and Boston College and is set to play at Colorado College on Friday in Colorado Springs. USA lost 4-2 last Friday to Notre Dame and fell 10-1 to BC on Saturday.

DU resumes the regular season next weekend when it hosts the Michigan Wolverines in a Frozen Four rematch at Magness Arena on Oct. 16-17. The Pioneers will raise their 2026 national championship banner prior to the Friday game at 7 p.m. MT, and the squads will wrap up their first regular-season series against one another since March 1981 on Saturday at 6 p.m. MT.

LAST TIME OUT: The No. 1-ranked Pioneers kicked off the 2026-27 season with a road series sweep at the Alaska Anchorage Seawolves, with DU winning 6-2 on Friday, Oct. 2 and 4-1 on Saturday, Oct. 3.

UAA's Tye Spencer tallied twice in the opener, including the first of the season just 1:41 into the contest, but DU responded with five different goal scorers finding the back of the net. Jake Fisher scored twice in the third period, freshman defenseman Daxon Rudolph recorded three points (1g/2a) and four other Pios recorded multiple points: Cale Ashcroft (1g/1a), Kieran Cebrian (1g/1a), Kristian Epperson (0g/2a) and Clarke Caswell (0g/2a).

Sam Harris scored the eventual game-winner on Saturday on a redirection off a shot from Rudolph for his second marker of the weekend and start a three-goal, third period for DU. Mikey Berchild and Ryan Miller each netted their first career goals in the third, while fellow rookie D-man Ryan Lin also found the back of the net for the first time late in the first period.

Denver outshot Anchorage 72-32 across the two games, with Johnny Hicks getting the start in goal on Friday and stopping 14-of-16 shots and Tyler Krivtsov recording 15 saves on 16 shots on Saturday in his DU debut and matchup versus his former team.

STREAKING: The Pioneers are riding a 19-game unbeaten streak (18-0-1) dating back to Jan. 24 of last season, as they went 16-0-1 down the stretch in their championship-winning campaign of 2025-26. The current 19-game run is 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 (ranked fourth on the list). The Pios' 17-game unbeaten stretch last season was the fourth-longest in a single season and the longest since going 22-0-0 in 1966-67.

Denver's run to end 2025-26 marked its second stretch of the season where it 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).

Overall, DU has picked up wins in each of its last 15 games since Feb. 7 in what is 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).

Denver finished last year by matching a season best by going unbeaten in its last four true road contests (3-0-1) and by winning its 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.

RUDOLPH IN RARE AIR: In addition to scoring his first collegiate goal—and first tally overall during the season for Denver—freshman defenseman Daxon Rudolph added two assists to finish opening night with three points.

The three-point performance in the season opener marked the first by a DU rookie defenseman and the fourth by a freshman making their collegiate debut since the start of the 1999-2000 season (online records presently don't go back any further). He also finished with a +4 plus/minus rating, matching last season's best mark by a Pioneer (four times).

Forward Emilio Pettersen on Oct. 12, 2018 at Air Force (1g/2a) was the last Denver rookie to have a three-point game in their first NCAA contest, while Luke Salazar on Oct. 11, 2008 against Notre Dame (2g/1a) and Jon Foster on Oct. 12, 2001 versus Boston College (2g/1a) also accomplished the feat on their first opening nights since the turn of the century.

Rudolph's teammate, Eric Jamieson, was the last Pioneer freshman defender to record three points in a contest, as he had a trio of assists in last year's home opener (second game of the season) on Oct. 11, 2025 against Bentley.

The Lacombe, Alberta, native finished the weekend with five points overall, as he had another multi-point outing with two assists—including the primary helper on Sam Harris' game-winner—to complete the weekend series at Alaska Anchorage. He picked up his first conference honor on Tuesday as he was recognized as the NCHC Rookie of the Week.

WEEKEND OF FIRSTS: All nine of DU's newcomers saw action over the weekend, with freshmen Mikey Berchild, Blake Fiddler, Max Heise, Rayn Lin, Ben MacBeath, Ryan Miller, Jack Pridham and Daxon Rudolph making their NCAA debut on Friday, Oct. 2, and junior goaltender Tyler Krivtsov starting his first game as a Pioneer and earning his first win in crimson and gold on Saturday, Oct. 3. Krivtsov previously played two seasons for UAA from 2024-2026.

Four Denver players scored their first career goals during the season-opening series in Alaska, with defenseman Rudolph tallying on opening night while fellow rear guard Lin along with forwards Berchild and Miller (empty net) found twine on that Saturday.

Miller recorded his first collegiate point with an assist on that Friday, while forward Jack Pridham and defenseman Ben MacBeath earned their first points with helpers on Saturday.

NOTABLES

DU is now 53-17-7 all-time vs. UAA and 25-8-5 on the road in the series. The Pios own a 16-3-2 record in the past 21 meetings dating back to March 13, 2009, including three in a row over the Seawolves.
The Pioneers are unbeaten in their last six true road games (5-0-1) dating back to Jan. 17 at North Dakota.
Sam Harris scored in both games at UAA and scored his 12th career game-winning tally on Saturday.
Jake Fisher tallied twice on opening night for his first career multi-goal game and eighth career multi-point outing.
Clarke Caswell registered his sixth career multi-point game on Friday with two assists.
Kieran Cebrian scored his third career short-handed goal on Friday, which marked the first goal that DU has tallied with the man disadvantage since Brendan McMorrow on Dec. 6 vs. Miami.

EXHIBITION HISTORY: The Pioneers own a 44-25-8 all-time record in exhibition games in program history. The team sports a 36-7-5 mark in season-opening exhibitions.

Denver had played an exhibition with an ACHA team in each of the previous five seasons. The team played then-ACHA Lindenwood in October 2021; UNLV in October 2022, December 2024 and October 2025; and Minot State in December 2023.
The last time DU played an exhibition after starting the season was in in 2024 when it tied UNLV 6-6. The previous time that the Pioneers played an exhibition in the second week of the season after already playing regular-season games was on Oct. 10, 2003 vs. the U.S. Under-18 Team after they beat Ohio State (5-2) and St. Lawrence (3-0) on Oct. 3-4, 2003 in the Lefty McFadden Invitational in Dayton, Ohio.

HISTORY VS. U-18 TEAM: Denver owns a 4-0 all-time record against the USA Under-18 Team, as the young Americans have played exhibitions at Magness Arena in October of 2001, 2003, 2010 and 2011. In the last meeting on Oct. 7, 2011, the Pioneers won 3-0. The squads' first exhibition meeting came on Oct. 29, 2001, with DU winning 7-2. Denver also won 6-2 on Oct. 10, 2003 and 8-1 on Oct. 2, 2010.

CONNECTIONS: Denver has three alumni from the U.S. NTDP on its roster in freshman Mikey Berchild ( 2024-2026) and sophomores Kristian Epperson (2022-2024) and Brendan McMorrow (2022-2024) … Other recent Pioneers that are alums of the national program include Zeev Buium, Sean Behrens, Jack Devine and Troy Terry … Head coach David Carle worked with USA Assistant Executive Director John Vanbiesbrouk, who served as general manager of Team USA, during the national team's runs to the gold medal at the 2024 and 2025 IIHF World Junior Championships … USA Goaltending Coach David Lassonde served as an assistant coach for Denver hockey for three seasons from 2011-2014 and was on Carle's coaching staff for the 2024 and 2025 World Juniors … Equipment manager Nick Meldrum spent two years with the NTDP as its equipment manager from 2007-2009 when the program was based in Ann Arbor, Michigan … Meldrum is also from Michigan (Warren) and earned his undergraduate degree from Lake Superior State in Sault Ste. Marie in 2007 … Paxton Geisel played junior hockey in the state of Michigan with the USHL Muskegon Lumberjacks to begin the 2023-24 season.

PREVIOUS MEETING (OCT. 7, 2011): Sophomore Beau Bennett's two goals propelled the University of Denver to a 3-0 win over the U.S. Under-18 Team in the final exhibition tune-up for the Pioneers on Friday night at Magness Arena. Freshman Zac Larraza also scored, and DU goaltenders Adam Murray, Juho Olkinuora and Zack Hope stopped all 22 shots in the shutout victory. Bennett started the scoring for DU, sending in a bar-down power-play goal to give the Pioneers a 1-0 lead at 14:43 of the first period. He tacked on another goal for Denver on a 5-on-3 advantage at 14:29 of the third period. With just over four minutes to play, Larraza beat Olson glove-side to ice the win. Murray stopped 10 shots in the opening frame, while Olkinuora added 12 saves in the second and third periods, and Hope played the final 4:04 of the game. The Pioneers, who owned a 40-22 shot advantage, went 2-for-8 on the power play and 7-for-7 on the penalty kill.

SCOUTING THE NTDP: The National Team Development Program is a two-year program in Plymouth, Michigan, that features some of the best American hockey players that suit up for an Under-17 team and Under-18 team. The NTDP competes in the United States Hockey League—the top junior league in the U.S.—as well as at several international competitions throughout the season representing USA Hockey, including the Hlinka-Gretzky Cup, Four and Five Nations Tournaments, and the IIHF U18 World Championship. Many players on the national team have already committed to playing college hockey in future seasons. The Under-18 team plays several games against NCAA squads as exhibition during the year, with the group opening play last week versus Notre Dame and Boston College and is set to play at Colorado College this Friday. USA lost 4-2 on Friday against the Irish despite receiving goals from Sam Pandolfo and Nolan Fitzhenry scoring and fell 10-1 on Saturday to BC, with Griffin Storey tallying the only marker. The U-18 squad is 2-6 overall on the season. Finn Sears leads the team with 10 points and eight assists while Fitzhenry is second in scoring with nine points (4g/5a) and is tied for first in goals with Pandolfo (4g/0a). Goaltender Nate Chizik has started four contests and has played five total, posting a 2-2 record with a 3.55 goals-against average and .904 save percentage overall. Eli Winters has suited up in four contests and is 0-4-0, with a 6.40 GAA and .828 save percentage.

IN OPENERS: Denver improved to 45-25-8 all-time in season openers and is unbeaten in its last six opening nights dating back to 2021-22 (5-0-1) following its 6-2 win on Oct. 2 at Alaska Anchorage.

The Pioneers began the regular season on the road for the fourth year in a row, which included three such trips to Alaska: 2023-24 in Fairbanks and 2024-25 and 2026-27 in Anchorage. The last time DU began a campaign away from home ice in at least four consecutive seasons was when it did so six years in a row in 2001-02 (vs. Boston College in Alaska), 2002-03 (vs. Michigan State in Omaha), 2003-04 (vs. Ohio State in Dayton, Ohio), 2004-05 (vs. Minnesota in U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game in St. Paul), 2005-06 (at Maine) and 2006-07 (at Miami in Ice Breaker Tournament).

DU will host Michigan in its official home opener on Friday, Oct. 16, where the team will raise its 2026 national championship banner to the arena's rafters. Denver has a 54-18-5 all-time mark in home openers and owns a 20-5-2 record in such contests at Magness Arena. The Pioneers are unbeaten in their last nine home openers (7-0-2) and are 16-1-2 in the last 19 opening nights at Magness.

PIONEERS IN THE POLLS: Denver stayed put as the No. 1 ranked team in the country in both the USCHO.com and USA Hockey media polls that were released on Monday. The Pioneers earned 39-of-50 first-place votes in the USCHO.com rankings and were picked atop the ballot by 29-of-34 voters for the USA Hockey list.

The NCHC led all conferences with four teams in the top 10 and five ranked overall to tie for first with the Big Ten and Hockey East. Joining DU at the top of the poll is North Dakota at No. 4/4, Minnesota Duluth at No. 5/5 and Western Michigan at No. 8/8, while Colorado College entered the rankings at No. 15/15 after sweeping UMass at home. Three other NCHC programs received votes, as St. Thomas was ranked on ballots on both polls while Miami and Omaha joined the Tommies on the USCHO.com list.

OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN: Senior forward Kieran Cebrian was named the 97th team captain in program history on Sept. 23. This is the first time that the Denver native and former Jr. Pioneer has served as a captain since also wearing the 'C' with the Colorado Thunderbirds 16U AAA in 2019-20.

The two-time national champion is joined by four alternate captains this season in fellow seniors Cale Ashcroft and Sam Harris, junior Jake Fisher and sophomore Kyle Chyzowski. The five Denver players wearing letters are the most by the program in a single season since the team had six team captains for the 1969-70 campaign.

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.

ROSTER BUILDING: Denver returns 17 players from last season and is welcoming nine newcomers with eight freshmen and junior-transfer Tyler Krivtsov from Alaska Anchorage. Each of DU's freshmen have already been drafted by NHL squads.

DU is bringing back 11-of-14 forwards, 4-of-8 defensemen and 2-of-3 goaltenders from its 2026 national championship roster.

The Pioneers' 26-member squad features seniors Cale Ashcroft, Kieran Cebrian and Sam Harris, all of whom won national titles at DU in both 2024 and 2026. Denver has five juniors and nine sophomores.

Five players from last year's team have signed professional contracts, while forward Hagen Burrows (Notre Dame) and goaltender Quentin Miller (Western Michigan) transferred in the offseason.

PRESEASON FAVORITES: The Pioneers were voted as the favorite to win the 2026-27 NCHC in the conference's preseason media poll that was released on Wednesday.

Denver, which claimed the league's National Cup as the Frozen Faceoff Tournament champions in addition to its national title last year, collected 14-of-33 first-place votes and 304 points, two more than second-place North Dakota, which had 302 points and 12 top tallies from voters.

2026-27 SCHEDULE NOTABLES

DU kicks off its national title defense and 78th season on Oct. 2-3 at Alaska Anchorage. The Pios will be starting the season on the road in America's Last Frontier for the third time in the last five seasons, as they also began the 2024-25 campaign at UAA.
The Pioneers will play an even amount of 18 home and 18 away games during the year, as the program picked up a two-game exemption to play 36 outings this season due to its trip to Alaska.
Hosts an exhibition on Oct. 10 vs. the U.S. National Team Development Program Under-18 Team for the first time since 2011.
Denver takes on Michigan on its home opening weekend on Oct. 16-17 after the teams met on April 9 in the NCAA Frozen Four Semifinals in Las Vegas.
The Pioneers and Wolverines will be playing for the first time in the regular season since they were both members of the old WCHA during the 1980-81 campaign. Michigan will be making its first visit to Denver since March 5-7, 1981.
Denver hosts Boston College Eagles on Oct. 23-24 for Homecoming Week and mark the fourth consecutive season and the eighth and ninth meetings between the two programs since 2019.
Season-long, six-game homestand from Oct. 16-31, and DU will have 10-of-12 games at Magness Arena from Oct. 16-Nov. 21.
The 24-game NCHC league schedule opens on Oct. 30-31 vs. Omaha.
Faces new NCHC-member St. Thomas for the first time on Nov. 13-14 at home.
Plays at Boston University on Thanksgiving Weekend on Nov. 27-28. DU beat BU in overtime in the 2024 Frozen Four en route to the national title in St. Paul, Minnesota.
DU begins a season-long, six-game road swing on Dec. 11-12 at St. Cloud State, and the trip continues after the Holiday Break with the series at Bowling Green on Jan. 1-2 and a playoff rematch at Western Michigan on Jan. 8-9.
Denver will play nine-of-12 contests away from Magness Arena from Dec. 11-Jan. 30 and will play on the road in 13-of-18 games from Nov. 27-Feb. 13.
The Pioneers will close out the main campaign with three of their final four (Feb. 19-27) and five of their last eight games (Feb. 5-27) on home ice.
DU and Colorado College will meet for single-game weekends on Jan. 16 (Denver) and Jan. 30 (Colorado Springs) before wrapping up the Gold Pan series against one another in a home-and-home set on Feb. 26-27 to close the regular season.
The entire NCHC Frozen Faceoff Tournament will be played on campus sites for the second consecutive season. Denver won the conference title on home ice in 2026.
Denver is hosting NCAA Regionals at Blue Arena in Loveland, Colorado, for the second straight season. The Pioneers will play the opening round games at the home of the AHL's Colorado Eagles if they qualify for the national tournament.

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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