OMAHA, Neb. – The No. 8 University of Denver hockey team scored four unanswered goals in the second and third periods to defeat the Omaha Mavericks 5-2 on Friday night at Baxter Arena.
 
The win stretches the Pioneers' unbeaten streak to six games (5-0-1) and secures them home-ice advantage for the best-of-three NCHC Quarterfinals on March 6-8. Tickets for the first round of the conference tournament go on sale on Sunday.
 
Denver (18-11-3, 14-6-1 NCHC) plays its final road game of the regular season on Saturday at 6 p.m. MT at Omaha (10-19-0, 6-13-0 NCHC) as the teams wrap up their only series of 2025-26. The contest will be broadcast on NCHC.tv.
 
Sophomore forward James Reeder scored twice for DU, while senior left wing Rieger Lorenz had a goal and an assist. Senior forward Samu Salminen and junior defenseman Eric Pohlkamp recorded multiple points as well with a pair of helpers apiece to each reach 50 career assists.
 
Freshmen forwards Clarke Caswell and Kyle Chyzowski also tallied, and fellow rookie Johnny Hicks made 31-of-33 shots faced to remain unbeaten in six career decisions (5-0-1). Junior goalie Paxton Geisel entered the game in the final minute of the third period and made two stops.
 
Samuel Huo netted a power-play goal for Omaha at 5:20 of the first period and the Mavericks held the lead for nearly the next 30 minutes before the Pioneers evened the score and soon jumped ahead.
 
Denver led 2-1 at the second intermission after netting two markers in the final 4:07 of the middle period, with Reeder scoring his first while stationed at the backdoor of the crease at 15:53 and Caswell scoring off his own rebound following a Denver faceoff win with 1.1 seconds remaining in the stanza.
 
Overall, the Pioneers scored four straight tallies in a 15-minute period, with Chyzowski burying a one-timer at 2:23 of the third and Reeder knocking in Salminen's feed on a rush at 9:41.
 
Ryan McCleary tallied the Mavs' second goal of the night with 4:25 left in regulation before Lorenz picked up an empty-netter a minute later.
 
DU outshot UNO 39-25 overall. The Pios went 0-for-2 on the power play, while the Mavs posted a 1-for-3 mark with the extra man on the ice.
 
UP NEXT: The Pioneers conclude their season and weekend series versus the Mavericks on Saturday at Baxter Arena before going on their only bye weekend of the season. DU wraps up the regular season on Feb. 27-28 at home against Arizona State.
 

POSTGAME NOTES

• DU is unbeaten in the last six games against Omaha (5-0-1) and is 7-1-1 in the last nine contest.
• The Pios are now 43-14-6 all-time against the Mavs and 17-9-3 in Nebraska.
• Denver was playing its first game in Omaha since its series on Jan. 19-20, 2024.
• Denver's six-game unbeaten streak (5-0-1) ties its season long from Nov. 1-21 (6-0-0).
• Rieger Lorenz stretched his goal streak to four games, setting a new career long and matching the longest goal streak of the season for the Pioneers (Eric Pohlkamp, Nov. 1-14).
• Lorenz has seven points (5g/2a) in the past six games and his current four-game run matches his personal best point streak (third time, last: Nov. 8-21, 2025, 2g/3a).
• James Reeder registered his third career multi-goal game and second of the season (Nov. 1, 2025 vs. Alaska Anchorage).
• Reeder is on a three-game point streak (2g/2a).
• Eric Pohlkamp and Samu Salminen each recorded their 50th career assists.
• Johnny Hicks made his fifth consecutive start in net and is unbeaten in his six career decisions (5-0-1).

 
GOAL SUMMARY
1st Period
5:20 UNO (0-1) – PPG, Samuel Huo scored in front during a man advantage.
 
2nd Period
15:53 DU (1-1) – James Reeder finished off a pass by Rieger Lorenz on the back-side of the net after the Pioneers gained possession on the forecheck by Samu Salminen.
19:59 DU (2-1) – Clarke Caswell scored off his own rebound while all alone in front after Sam Harris won a faceoff and Eric Pohlkamp's initial shot from the high slot was blocked.
 
3rd Period
2:23 DU (3-1) – Kyle Chyzowski's slap shot from the left circle found twine after Kieran Cebrian and Reid Varkonyi won a puck battle along the boards
9:41 DU (4-1) – James Reeder knocked in the puck on a rush following a feed by Samu Salminen.
15:35 UNO (4-2) – Ryan McCleary scored on a slap shot from the top of the right circle.
16:35 DU (5-2) – ENG, Rieger Lorenz chased the puck into the Omaha zone and tapped it into the open net from the top of the crease.
 

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