DENVER – Senior Sam Harris scored twice on Friday to reach 50 career goals, including tallying the game-winning marker to lift the No. 8 Denver Pioneers hockey team to a 5-2 victory over the Arizona State Sun Devils at Magness Arena. 
 
"I think you saw a little bit of the sluggishness from the bye week and then their desperation level," said DU Richard and Kitzia Goodman Hockey Head Coach David Carle. "You know [ASU] came out with a lot of juice in that first period, certainly carried the play and we were a little hesitant and reactive instead of proactive within how we were playing. I thought we did a much better job, certainly in the second period and start of the third period to be a little bit more on our toes."
 
The Pioneers (20-11-3, 16-6-1 NCHC) face the Sun Devils (14-20-1, 7-15-1 NCHC) again on Saturday night at Magness Arena in the final regular-season game before the start of the NCHC Frozen Faceoff Tournament next weekend. Limited tickets for Saturday's contest are still available.
 
Harris finished the evening with three points with an assist to go along with his two markers for his first three-point game of the season and second of his career. His last three-point outing came when he tallied a hat trick on Feb. 8, 2025 at Arizona State, and he now has 14 points (11g/3a) in 10 career contests against the Sun Devils. He also tallied a multi-point game on Nov. 22 in Tempe.
 
Senior Samu Salminen (2g/1a) and sophomore James Reeder (1g/2a) joined Harris with three-point nights, and both junior defenseman Eric Pohlkamp and senior forward Rieger Lorenz received a pair of assists to help the Pios get the win and improve to 7-0-1 in their past eight games.
 
Freshman goaltender Johnny Hicks saved 23-of-25 shots sent his way while his counterpart for the Sun Devils, Samuel Urban, made 22 saves.
 
ASU had a 1-0 lead after the first period as Samuel Alfano struck just 6:37 into the game off passes from Noah Powell and Logan Morrell.  
 
It wasn't until 12:30 in the middle stanza before there was a frenzy of four markers in a matter of six minutes of play. Salminen put the Pios on the scoreboard first before the Sun Devils' Bennett Schimek responded less than a minute later to give ASU the 2-1 lead.  
 
Harris tied the contest at two with his fourth power-play marker of the season at 16:06 before recording his second of the night less than two minutes later to bring the game to 3-2.  
 
In the final period, Reeder registered his ninth goal of the season at 5:17 and Salminen registered his second of the contest with an empty-net marker at 18:43. 
 
DU finished with a 27-25 edge in shots on goal after trailing 11-3 in the category in the first stanza. DU went 1-for-1 on the power play while Arizona State failed to capitalize on any of its three man advantages.  
 
Denver was coming off its only bye of the season and playing for the first time since Feb 13-14 at Omaha. DU and ASU are wrapping up their four-game series after the teams split their set in Tempe on Nov. 21-22, with the Pioneers winning 7-1 and then losing 3-2 in overtime.  
 
UP NEXT: The Pioneers conclude their season and weekend series versus the Sun Devils on Saturday at Magness Arena for senior night. DU begins a best-of-three series in the NCHC Quarterfinals next Friday, March 6.
 
 
POSTGAME NOTES

• The Pioneers extended its "Tenzer" streak of 20 or more wins to 24 consecutive full seasons. 
• The Sun Devils are the first new opponent that Denver is facing in its final regular-season series since 2017-18, as the Pioneers had closed their previous seven campaign against Colorado College.
• Johnny Hicks' eight-game unbeaten streak (7-0-1) is the longest to start a career by a Denver goalie since Magnus Chrona's eight-game opening run as a freshman in 2019-20 (7-0-1). 
• The Pios are 4-2-0 in their last five games against ASU, with three of those contests being decided in overtime. 
• On Saturday night, DU will be celebrating its seniors, with the eldest class earning its 113th career win on Friday to take sole possession of second place for the victories by a graduating class in program history.
• Freshman forward Brendan McMorrow returned to the ice after missing 12 games and most of the last two months due to a hand injury that he suffered during the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship while playing for Team USA in early January.
• Four Pioneers are on point streaks, with Samu Salminen on a three-game run (2g/5a) while Sam Harris (3g/4a) has points in four straight, James Reeder (3g/5a) in on a five-contest stretch and Rieger Lorenz's (5g/3a) extending his streak to six outings. 
• Lorenz's point streak is the longest of his career, but his five-game goal streak did come to an end on Friday. It was the longest goal-scoring stretch by a DU player since Miko Matikka in November 2023. 
• Sam Harris set a new career long with a four-game assist streak (3g/4a), which is also the longest of the season by a Pioneer.

 
GOAL SUMMARY
1st Period
6:37 ASU (0-1) – On the quick turnaround, Logan Morrell intercepted the puck before passing it to Noah Powell, who then slid it back to Samuel Alfano for a wrist shot that went into the back of the net. 
 
2nd Period 
12:30 DU (1-1) – After taking a pass from James Reeder, Rieger Lorenz skated the puck in from the defensive zone before sliding it over to Samu Salminen, who finished with a wrist shot. 
13:08 ASU (1-2) – Sean McGurn collected the puck in the corner and slid it over to Cruz Lucius, who flicked it over to Bennett Schimek, who put it into the back of the net. 
16:07 DU (2-2) – PPG, Boston Buckberger held possession before passing the puck to Eric Pohlkamp, who wristed it toward the net. Sam Harris received the goal by redirecting the puck from the top of the crease. 
18:11 DU (3-2) – Eric Pohlkamp slid the puck alongside the boards in the offensive zone to where Clarke Caswell picked it up before passing up to Sam Harris, who wristed it into the net from the slot,
 
3rd Period 
5:19 DU (4-2) – Rieger Lorenz took a check before passing the puck to Samu Salminen, who attempted a shot on net that bounced off of an ASU player. James Reeder was there for the rebound and swatted the loose puck into the net from top of the crease. 
18:43 DU (5-2) – ENG, James Reeder brought the puck into the offensive zone and passed it over to Sam Harris, who then slid it over to Samu Salminen for a an empty-net tally off a wrister.
 
 
QUOTABLES
Richard and Kitzia Goodman Hockey Head Coach David Carle
On the Rieger Lorenz-Samu Salminen-James Reeder line: "They've been really good since we put them together. Obviously, a great rush goal on the first one, and the fourth goal a lot of really good puck decisions made throughout the shift to continue to put it below the goal line. You know, when we did that, look at the Harris goal as well, the puck got below the goal line and good things were able to happen for us."
 
On the team's scoring depth: "To have balance, you know, throughout the lineup is really needed. I thought as the game wore on our guys were getting better and better. I love the [Jake] Fisher line as well; I think Fish starting 11-0 on the dot on the night really helped. And then Sammy [Harris] to get a net-front goal on the power play—Eric Pohlkamp, not an easy shot to tip—and he laid it in there for him to be able to knock down and put between Urban's legs."
 
On the Tenzer Streak: "I'm proud of the consistency our program's had over the last 24 years or so. Twenty wins in college hockey is a big deal, and you know, to have that level of consistency is really impressive and what we really pride ourselves on here. So a really good night, all around. And again, a lot to look forward to tomorrow night, big game for us. A lot going on around the league for everybody with seedings and playoff implications hanging in the balance."
 
Junior Forward Sam Harris
On what the team worked on during the bye week: "Just continuing to work on our details, and me and Eric Pohlkamp worked a lot on my tips just after practice. Just you know, ensuring that I can see the puck, and I can get a stick on it when he shoots it."
 
On the change in the second period: "Basically just shooting, getting the puck in the net, controlling possession. You know, we've felt that we can make some changes, and we did. And that worked to our benefit. We got those two or three goals in the second, which was good for our momentum."
 
On scoring his 49th and 50th career goals: "It means a lot. To be a part of this program, you know, scoring is a lot of fun. Everybody likes scoring. So for me to do it 50 times is a great honor to do it at this program. I hope that more guys can do it."
 

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