OMAHA Neb. – The No. 8 University of Denver hockey team travels to Nebraska to take on the Omaha Mavericks this weekend in its last road series of the regular season.
 
Both Friday and Saturday's contests have a scheduled puck drop of 6 p.m. MT at Baxter Arena in Omaha. The games will be broadcast on NCHC.tv as well as locally on the radio on Denver Sports 104.3 The Fan HD3.
 
Denver (17-11-3, 13-6-1 NCHC) holds the second-place spot in the NCHC standings with 40 points. The Pios trail first-place North Dakota (42) by just two points while third-place Western Michigan (35) is five points behind. Omaha sits in ninth in the NCHC with 18 points, one point behind eighth-place Arizona State. 
 
The Pioneers went unbeaten last weekend against rival Colorado College to claim the Gold Pan, the first trophy up for grabs this season. Denver tied 2-2 on Friday before earning the extra conference point with a shootout win and picked up a 4-1 regulation victory on Saturday on home ice.
 
DU battled back against CC on Friday night in the series opener, after the Tigers secured the first two goals of the game. Denver's Rieger Lorenz cut Colorado College's lead in half with a power-play goal early in the second and Jake Fisher scored to close out the period. Kristian Epperson tallied the only goal in the shootout after the contest remained tied through the third and the five-minute overtime periods. Freshman goaltender Johnny Hicks made 30 saves and didn't allow a goal on three shooters during the tiebreak.
 
The following night, the Pioneers were prepared to conquer the Tigers. Epperson and Garrett Brown got Denver on the board in the first period, Lorenz earned his second goal of the weekend in the second and Sam Harris hit the back of the net on a power play in the third. Hicks stopped 17-of-18 shots on goal to remain unbeaten this season and help the Pios go 3-0-1 versus Colorado College during the year.
 
Omaha (10-18-0, 6-12-0 NCHC) is coming off a bye week after splitting its last series at Western Michigan on Jan. 30-31. The Mavericks fell 5-2 in the series opener in Kalamazoo but battled back the following day to win 4-1 and keep the Broncos from taking a series sweep.
 
Last season's series between Denver and Omaha was a roller coaster. The series opener on Jan. 31, 2025 ended in a 3-3 tie before UNO won a 16-round shootout to gain the extra conference point. The following evening, the Pioneers rolled to an 11-2 win by scoring 11 unanswered goals in the largest margin of victory in the teams' all-time series. Lorenz netted two goals and had two assists, and Samu Salminen also had four points with a goal and three helpers. Nine different Pios hit the back of the net and 14 earned assists. The Pioneers are undefeated in eight of the last 10 matchups.
 
Denver is 7-2-1 in the last 10 meetings against Omaha and holds the all-time series lead 42-14-6, which includes a mark of 16-9-3 on the road. The Mavericks claimed the first two games in November 1997, but the Pioneers went on to take the next seven wins from 1998 to 2010.
 
After this weekend, the Pioneers go on their only bye of the regular season before closing out the campaign at Magness Arena against Arizona State on Feb. 27-28.
 

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WON GOLD (PAN), AGAIN: The Pioneers secured the Gold Pan trophy for the seventh consecutive season after going undefeated at 3-0-1 in the series against Colorado College in 2025-26. Denver's run of seven straight Gold Pans is the longest streak by either team since the hardware started in circulation in 1993-94.
 
Overall, DU has captured 20 Gold Pans while CC's has owned it 13 times. The Pioneers have earned it in 11 of the last 12 seasons dating back to 2014-15 and 14 times in the past 17 campaigns since 2009-10.
 
The Denver-Colorado College rivalry is the most-played series in college hockey history, as the programs have faced off in 352 all-times games and surpassed Michigan and Michigan State (351 games) for the top spot last season.
 
CARLE COACHES 300TH: Denver hockey head coach David Carle coached his 300th game last Friday, Nov. 6 at Colorado College, joining Murray Armstrong, Ralph Backstrom and George Gwozecky as DU bench bosses to reach the milestone.  He registered 195 wins and a .683 winning percentage through the first 300 games, with only Armstrong being posting better marks in Pioneer history with 203 victories and a .707 win-percentage.
 
CLINCHNG SCENARIOS: Denver can secure home-ice advantage for the best-of-three NCHC Quarterfinals on March 6-8 with a win of any kind vs. Omaha OR a Miami regulation loss OR Miami plays in a game that goes beyond regulation.
 
HERE'S JOHNNY!: Freshman Johnny Hicks is unbeaten at 4-0-1 in his first five career decisions, as he's played in five straight games and has started the last four contests after Quentin Miller suffered a lower-body injury on Jan. 24.
 
He stopped 47-of-50 shots in last weekend's series against Colorado College. He made 30 saves and stopped every shot he faced in the final 44:34 in a 2-2 tie on Friday before denying all three pucks in the shootout to help DU earn the extra point in the NCHC standings. On Saturday, he made 17 saves on 18 shots faced in the 4-1 victory.
 
The Kamloops, British Columbia, native owns a 0.87 goals-against average and .967 save percentage in nine games and four starts this season.  Hicks picked up his first NCHC award as the conference's Rookie of the Week on Feb. 3 after making 48-of-49 saves in a series against Minnesota Duluth on Jan. 30-31. He made his first career start on Jan. 30 vs. UMD and stopped 29 shots before leaving midway through the third period with a lower-body injury.
 
Hicks also recorded a 100:33 shutout streak across three games that began on Nov. 16 at North Dakota and included Jan. 24 vs. St. Cloud State and Jan. 30 vs. Duluth before Kyle Gaffney tallied on the power play at 4:02 of the third period.
 
RIEGER RISING: Junior forward Rieger Lorenz has four goals and five points (4g/1a) in his last five games and has scored in three straight games, tying a career-long streak.  His only other three-game goal stretch came as a sophomore from Nov. 11-19, 2023 (4g/0a).
 
Defenseman Eric Pohlkamp has the longest goal streak of the season for the Pioneers with a four-game run from Nov. 1-14 (4g/2a)
 
The Calgary, Alberta, native is one-game shy of matching his career-long point streak of four games, accomplishing the feat twice before and last did it earlier this season from Nov. 8-15 (1g/3a). Lorenz registered his fifth multi-point game of the season with a goal and an assist last Saturday against Colorado College. 
 
MAGNESS MADNESS: For the second time this season, Denver set a new single-game attendance record at Magness Arena as 7,082 fans watched the Gold Pan rivalry with Colorado College.  DU's previous high mark was 7,073 in the Tigers' first visit to Denver this season on Nov. 14. Prior to this season, the single-game high for the arena was 7,051 on Oct. 19, 2024 against Northeastern when the Pioneers raised its 2024 championship banner to the rafters.
 
NO LOVE LOST: Denver is set to play on Valentine's Day for the second straight season on Saturday after winning 4-0 at home against North Dakota in 2025.  The Pioneers have played 21 previous times on Feb. 14 and owns a 12-6-2 all-time record on the date
 
DU has played Omaha once before on V-Day, losing 4-2 on the road in 2024.
 
NOTABLES

• Denver stretched its unbeaten streak to five games (4-0-1) and has won each of its last four home contests.
• Garrett Brown scored his first goal since Dec. 5 versus the Miami RedHawks and registered his first career game-winning marker.
• Sam Harris registered multiple points in a contest for the third time this year on Saturday.
• Johnny Hicks' 17 saves on Saturday were tied for the fewest in a win this season by a DU goalie. Quentin Miller also stopped 17 shots in a win on Nov. 1 vs. Alaska Anchorage.
• The Pioneers played their eighth overtime game of the season last Friday and is 2-3-3 this season in extra time.
• Denver won its second shootout of the season on Friday and is 2-1 in the tiebreak. DU also won the shootout at nearby Air Force in the season opener on Oct. 10.
• DU tied CC for the first time on Friday since March 6, 2020 (2-2); the Pios also went on to win the shootout.
• Denver won its first shootout in NCHC play since Feb. 23, 2024 vs. Miami (1-0, three rounds).
• The Pioneers have won each of the last four shootouts vs. the Tigers dating back to Dec. 9, 2017 at CC and is 5-1 all-time in the tiebreak against their in-state foe (since 2013-14).
• Sam Harris eclipsed 100 career penalty minutes on Friday (110).
• Jake Fished scored his first career game-tying goal on Friday.
• DU closed out a stretch of six straight games and 10-of-12 outings in the state of Colorado.
• The Pios and Tigers met earlier this campaign on Nov. 14-15 in their first home-and-home series, with DU winning 2-1 at Magness Arena before holding off CC for a 3-2 victory on the road in the last meeting.

NATIONAL LEADERBOARD

• Eric Pohlkamp leads all NCAA D-men and ranks tied for 15th overall among all skaters in goals (16).  His 28 points are tied for first among defensemen in the nation, while his 132 shots paces all NCAA players.
• Boston Buckberger is tied for fourth in goals (8), sixth in points (24) and 11th in assists (16-tied) among defensemen.
• Eric Jamieson is tied for 10th among all college D-men in goals and second among rookie D-men in markers (6)
• Quentin Miller is tied for fourth in shutouts (3).

HISTORY VS. OMAHA: Denver holds the all-time series lead against Omaha 42-14-6, including a mark of 16-9-3 on the road in Nebraska.  The Pioneers have not officially lost to Omaha since Nov. 19, 2023, when the Mavericks beat Denver 6-3 in Colorado. DU went 4-1-0 during the 2023-24 campaign, which included winning the NCHC Frozen Faceoff Championship by a 4-1 score. The Pios swept the Mavs in their last visit to Omaha on Jan. 19-20, 2024, winning by scores of 6-3 and 6-2.  This will be the first meeting between the teams this season, as the squads also only faced off twice in 2024-25. DU and UNO tied 3-3 on Jan. 31, 2025 before the Mavericks earned the extra point in the NCHC standings by winning a 16-round shootout. The following night, the Pioneers rallied by scoring 11 unanswered to defeat Omaha 11-2. Nine different Denver players scored in a game that featured the Pios' most goals since Dec. 27, 1995 and tied the NCHC record for the most in a league game.
 
PREVIOUS MEETING (FEB. 1, 2025): The No. 5 University of Denver hockey team beat the Omaha Mavericks on Saturday by scoring 11 unanswered goals in an 11-2 victory at Magness Arena.  Denver scored six goals in the second period after trailing by 2-0 in the opening frame. Nine different Pioneers tallied on the Mavericks and 16 DU players ended the night with at least one point.  The 11 goals scored tied the National Collegiate Hockey Conference record for the most goals in a league game. It was the fourth time that an NCHC program reached the mark and the first since St. Cloud State did it against Miami on Jan. 21, 2022.  Denver's 11 goals was also its most in a game since defeating Air Force 11-1 on Dec. 27, 1995.  Led by four-point efforts and career nights from juniors Rieger Lorenz (two goals and two assists) and Samu Salminen (one goal and three assists), DU recorded its first multi-goal comeback of the season. Fellow junior forward Jared Wright also posted a personal best with three points on a goal and two assists and James Reeder had the first three-point night and multi-goal game by a freshman this season with two tallies and a marker.  Sophomore defenseman Zeev Buium contributed a trio of assists, while senior forward Jack Devine and sophomore defensemen Cale Ashcroft and Boston Buckberger each had a goal and an assist.  Senior Connor Caponi and sophomore Sam Harris also scored.
 
CONNECTIONS: Assistant Coach Ryan Massa graduated from Omaha and spent four years as a goaltender for the Mavericks (2011-2015), helping the program to its first Frozen Four in 2015 … Head Athletic Trainer Aaron Leu is from Nebraska, and he earned his bachelor's degree in Exercise Science from Creighton University in Omaha in 1995 and picked up his master's degree from the University of Nebraska at Kearney in 1996 … Cale Ashcroft (2022-23) and Kieran Cebrian (2020-2023) played junior hockey in the state of Nebraska with the Tri-City Storm in Kearney, while Boston Buckberger also played in USHL in the state for the Lincoln Stars in 2022-23 … Denver's Kent Anderson, Eric Jamieson and Rieger Lorenz and Omaha's Marcus Nguyen are all from Calgary, Alberta … DU's Cale Ashcroft and UNO's Marc Lajoie are both from St. Albert, Alberta … Kyle Chyzowski was a teammate on the WHL Portland Winterhawks with Joel Plante (2024-25) and Ryan McCleary (2021-2023) … Brady Milburn played for the BCHL Chilliwack Chiefs with Hunter McInnes for three seasons from 2022-2025 and Quentin Miller was also a teammate of McInnes' in Chilliwack in 2024-25 … Reid Varkonyi and Marcus Broberg were teammates in 2023-24 with the BCHL Salmon Arm Silverbacks … Myles Hillman played two seasons with Kent Anderson on the AJHL Drumheller Dragons from 2019-2021 and was teammates with Garrett Brown on the USHL Waterloo Black Hawks at the end of the 2022-23 season … Brown also played with Griffin Ludtke with the USHL Sioux City Musketeers from in 2021-22 … James Reeder and Chase LaPinta began the 2023-24 campaign together with the USHL Dubuque Fighting Saints … LaPinta also played with Paxton Geisel with the Dallas Stars AAA and Elite teams from 2017-2020 … Tyler Rollwagen was at Shattuck-St. Mary's prep school at the same time as Sam Harris in 2018-19 … Omaha Hockey Communications Director Emma Goldstein is a 2024 graduate of the University of Denver and was a student assistant in the school's athletic communications department in 2023-24 … DU's Quentin Miller (Montreal) and Omaha's Jacob Guevin (Drummondville), Jeremy Loranger (Trois-Rivieres) and Maxime Pellerin (Victoriaville) are all from the province of Quebec.
 
SCOUTING THE MAVS: Omaha has a 10-18-0 record and is currently in ninth place in the NCHC standings with a 6-12-0 league mark and 18 points. The Mavs are one point behind Arizona State for eighth and two back of Miami in seventh. The Mavericks are coming off their final bye of the season last weekend after split their past two series.  Omaha fell 5-2 in the opener in their last series at Western Michigan on Jan. 30-31 before winning 4-1 on the Saturday game. The week prior on Jan. 23-24, UNO split at Colorado College with a 3-1 win and 3-1 loss. The Mavs are 4-8-0 on home ice this season.  Freshman forward Luke Woodworth leads the team with 17 points (4g/13a), while senior defenseman Griffin Ludke also has 13 helpers. Maxine Pellerin (8g/8a) and Trevor Wong (5g/11a) are tied for second on the team in scoring with 16 points (8g/8a). Pellerin and Marcus Nguyen (8g/5a) are tied for the Mavs' lead in goals with eight. Simon Latkoczy has started 17 of Omaha's 28 games this season, and the senior has a goals-against average of 3.14, a save percentage of .905 and a 6-10-0 record. Freshman goaltender Dawson Cowan has also spent a bit of time in net, playing in 12 games and starting in 11. Cowan stands with a 3.21 GAA and a .901 save percentage while posting a record of 4-8-0 and one shutout.
 
HONOR ROLL: The Pioneers had all 15 of their returning players be named to this year's NCHC Honor Roll.  Players must have compiled a 3.0 cumulative grade-point average while having completed at least one full academic year at their institution to be eligible for the Honor Roll, previously called the Academic All-Conference Team.
 
Kent Anderson, Cale Ashcroft, Garrett Brown, Boston Buckberger, Hagen Burrows, Kieran Cebrian, Jake Fisher, Paxton Geisel, Sam Harris, Rieger Lorenz, Tory Pitner, Eric Pohlkamp, James Reeder, Samu Salminen and Alec Whipple were all named to this year's Honor Roll, with DU's 15 players tied for the second-most among all conference teams.
 
Denver did lead all NCHC squads with 13 players being recognized as NCHC Distinguished Scholar-Athletes for posting a GPA of 3.5 or higher. Anderson, Ashcroft, Buckberger, Burrows, Cebrian, Fisher, Geisel, Harris, Lorenz, Pitner, Pohlkamp, Reeder and Whipple were named Distinguished Scholar-Athletes, with seniors Anderson and Lorenz picking up the accolade all four years of their college careers.
 
Freshmen and first-year players with their squads will be added to both lists over the summer once they complete a full academic year. DU has a 10-member freshman class, and the team combined for a 3.72 GPA during the fall 2025 academic quarter.
 
LOVE FOR THE 'TENDYS: Each of Denver's three goaltenders have started games this season and have also picked up shutout victories.
 
Freshman Quentin Miller started opening night on Oct. 10 at Air Force and owns three individual clean sheets this season. Junior Paxton Miller denied all 21 shots he faced in the home opener on Oct. 11 vs. Bentley for the first home-opening shutout since Devin Cooley on Oct. 13, 2018 vs. Alabama Huntsville. Rookie Johnny Hicks picked up the win by stopping all 22 shots he faced in a team shutout on Jan. 24 and secured his first individual clean sheet with 19 saves on Saturday vs. Minnesota Duluth.
 
The last time DU had three goaltenders each record a shutout in a season was in 2019-20 when Magnus Chrona (two), Cooley (two) and Michael Corson (one) all did it. The 2023-24 season was the previous time the Pioneers had three netminders start in at least one game (Matt Davis, Freddie Halyk, Geisel).
 
IN POHL POSITION: Junior Eric Pohlkamp leads all NCAA defensemen and ranks tied for 15th among all skaters in the country with 16 goals this season.  He is also first among players at his position in total scoring with 28 points.
 
Pohlkamp is tied for fourth in program history for the most goals by blueliner in a single season, and it is the most goals by a blueliner since Craig Redmond and Jim Leavins also each tallied 16 times in 1982-83; Ross Woodley scored 16 goals as well in 1971-72.  Mike Busniuk's 18 markers in 1973-74 is currently next on the list for Pohlkamp to chase in third place.
 
The Baxter, Minn., native is looking to become the first NCAA defenseman to score 20 goals in a season since 2002-03 when Colorado College's Tom Preissing tallied 23.  Pohlkamp leads the Pioneers in goals, points, power-play goals (4-tied), game-winning goals (3), shots (127), plus/minus rating (+12-tied) and ranks second in power-play points (8-tied).
 
His previous career high for goals was 11, which he accomplished each of the past two seasons as a sophomore at Denver in 2023-24 and as a freshman at Bemidji State in 2022-23.
 
OFFENSIVE DEFENDERS: Denver has received 33.3 percent of its goals this season from D-men (35-of-105), including 30 combined tallies from three Pioneers in Eric Pohlkamp (16), Boston Buckberger (8) and Eric Jamieson (6).
 
The Pioneers are the only program in the country with three rear guards with six or more goals, and only five other programs have multiple blueliners with five or more markers: Air Force (3), Clarkson (2), Minnesota Duluth (2), St. Thomas (2), Wisconsin (2),
 
Denver defensemen scored 40 goals last season, with Zeev Buium (13) and Pohlkamp (11) leading the position group in double-digit tallies.  The Pios had 22.9 percent of their markers in 2024-25 come from blueliners (40-of-174).
 
Pohlkamp leads all NCAA defenders with 16 goals and 28 points this season, while Buckberger is tied for fourth at his position in tallies and sixth in points (23).  Jamieson is tied for second among rookie blueliners in goals.
 
HOME COOKING: The back half of Denver's 2025-26 season features plenty of home games at Magness Arena, as the Pioneers will play 11 of its final 16 games in their friendly confines after the New Year.  DU played eight-of-10 outings in January on home ice, with a pair of season-long, four-game homestands on Jan. 2-10 and Jan. 23-31.  Denver also had a stretch of six-straight outings in the state of Colorado from Jan. 23-Feb. 7.
 
The Pioneers had 12 of its first 19 contests of the season on the road, including 10-of-14 to start the campaign.  Their only away contests in 2026 are flights to North Dakota on Jan. 16-17 and Omaha on Feb. 13-14 and a bus trip to Colorado College on Feb. 6.
 
PIONEERS IN THE POLLS: Denver ranks No. 8 in both the latest USCHO.com and USA Hockey polls that were released on Monday.  The Pioneers began the year at No. 4 in each preseason media poll and are presently No. 11 in the NPI computer rankings that will determine this year's NCAA Tournament field.
 
The NCHC leads all conferences with five teams ranked and also has the most in the top 10 with four schools represented at the top half.  Joining DU in the rankings from the NCHC are North Dakota (3/3), Western Michigan (4/4) and Minnesota Duluth (10/10).  Miami rejoined each poll this week at No. 20, while St. Cloud State earned votes in each ranking as well.
 
HOBEY NOMINEES: The Pioneers have two players nominated for this year's Hobey Baker Award as junior defensemen Boston Buckberger and Eric Pohlkamp are both up for the honor as the top player in college hockey this season.
 
Overall, the DU duo are among 87 total nominees in college hockey and 18 from the NCHC.
 
The Pioneers have had two previous winners of the Hobey Baker Award, with both being defenders in Matt Carle (2006) and Will Butcher (2017).  Current NHLers' Zeev Buium (2025) and Bobby Brink (2022) were Hobey Hat Trick Finalists from Denver over the past five years.
 

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