COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The No. 8 Denver Pioneers hockey team tied 2-2 against the Colorado College Tigers on Friday night at Ed Robson Arena to secure the esteemed Gold Pan trophy for the seventh season in a row. 
 
DU went on to win the best-of-three shootout at the end of OT to earn an extra point in the conference standings, but the Friday night's game officially goes down as a tie.
 
"It was a well-earned two points—tight around the conference tonight, as everyone probably saw with ties and things fell our way in overtime," said DU Richard and Kitzia Goodman Hockey Head Coach David Carle. "So gained some points on teams around us and in front of us, so that was good.
 
"The game overall tonight, I thought was what we expected. I mean, shots 32-31. Each team with a power-play goal—they got two actually. And I like us for the most part at 5-on-5, most of the night outside maybe the first five-to-seven minutes of the third period. But you know, to get down 2-0, to feel like maybe some of the stuff wasn't going our way in the game—through some adversity—and to fight our way back and show a lot of urgency and desperation was great."
 
The Pioneers (16-11-3, 12-6-1 NCHC) and the Tigers (11-12-4, 5-8-4 NCHC) conclude their weekend series on Saturday at Magness Arena in the final installment of the Colorado rivalry during the regular season. The finale will be broadcast exclusively on NCHC.tv, and limited tickets are still available. 
 
Freshman forward Kristian Epperson netted the only goal of the shootout in the second round and freshman goaltender Johnny Hicks stopped all three pucks he faced from Colorado College to give DU two points on the evening. Hicks made 30 saves through overtime, including five in the extra, five-minute 3-on-3 period.
 
Senior Rieger Lorenz and sophomore Jake Fisher both recorded a goal in the second period to tie the contest after the Pios were down 2-0 early in the frame. Freshmen Brady Milburn and Kyle Chyzowski along with sophomores Hagen Burrows and James Reeder were all credited with helpers. 
 
Klavs Veinbergs recorded two power-play goals for CC within 1:23 of one another at 19:03 of the first period and at 0:26 of the second.
 
Three minutes later of Veinbergs' second, Lorenz responded by registering his 10th goal of the year, scoring in back-to-back games for the first time since Nov. 8-9, 2024 versus Lindenwood. With 1:59 remaining in the second, Fisher tied the contest after missing on his initial shot during a rush up the ice
 
Tigers goaltender Jackson Unger saved 29-of-32 pucks on net, with CC and DU switching leads on shots on goals each period. Colorado College began with 10-8 edge in pucks on net in the first before Denver outshot CC 10-9 in the second. Third period shots ended even at 8-8.
 
Colorado finished 2-for-4 on the power play while Lorenz tallied DU's only man-advantage marker on three attempts.
 
UP NEXT: Denver concludes its home-and-home series with Colorado College on Saturday at 7 p.m. MT at Magness Arena before heading out for its final road contests of the regular season on Feb. 13-14 at Omaha.
 
 
POSTGAME NOTES

• David Carle coached in his 300th career game, and he is the fourth coach in school history to lead the Pioneers bench to the milestone. 
• Denver and CC have faced off in now 351 all0time games in the most-played rivalry in college hockey.
• DU only has five games remaining in the regular season and will close out a stretch of six straight games and 10-of-12 outings in the state of Colorado on Saturday night in Denver.
• 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.
• Freshman goaltender Johnny Hicks is unbeaten in his four career decisions (3-0-1).
• Denver stretched its unbeaten streak to four games
• The Pioneers played their eighth overtime game of the season and is 2-3-3 this season in extra time.
• Denver won its second shootout of the season and is 2-1 in the tiebreak. DU also won the shootout at nearby Air Force in the season opener on Oct. 10.

 
GOAL SUMMARY
1st Period
19:03 CC (0-1) – PPG, Gavin Lindberg's shot from the left circle caromed off Klavs Veinbergs and into the net with 8 second remaining on a CC power play
 
2nd Period
0:26 CC (0-2) – PPG, Klavs Veins tallied in front after the Pioneers couldn't control the puck around the net.
3:37 DU (1-2) – PPG, Rieger Lorenz knocked in a rebound five-hole at the top of the crease.
18:01 DU (2-2) – Jake Fisher whiffed on his initial shot but regathered the puck and scored as the CC goalie was out of position.
 
3rd Period
No Scoring
 
Overtime
No Scoring
 
Shootout
R1 – CC, Bret Link, saved (0-0)
R1 – DU, Clarke Caswell, saved (0-0)
R2 – CC, Wilson Bjorck, saved (0-0)
R2 – DU, Kristian Epperson, scored (1-0)
R3 – CC – Owen Beckner, saved (1-0)

 
QUOTABLES
Richard and Kitzia Goodman Hockey Head Coach David Carle
On winning the Gold Pan: "It's the first trophy you get a chance to win. You know, to have it seven straight years is quite a feat. I don't know what the longest streak is. I think we lost it, I think in the 2018-19 season, I want to say. And we haven't lost it since then. You know, we had it for a good stretch before that. But, yeah, proud of our guys. It's a trophy that means a lot to our players and our alumni. And to have that, you know, at home in Denver is a big thing for us and our fans."
 
On the game's competitiveness: "I thought it was a really competitive game, exactly what we had thought. You wouldn't think this is the second-place team and the eighth or ninth place, wherever they are in the standings playing here tonight. You thought that was a fight for home ice. They're a really good hockey team. So a good challenge in front of us tomorrow night to try and get points in our league."
 
Senior Forward Rieger Lorenz
On winning the Gold Pan every year in career: "Yeah, for sure, I mean it's our biggest rivalry. It's nice to beat those guys consistently year in and year out." 
 
On his goal in the second period: "Yeah, I think both goals in the second were really big, obviously. Both their goals were on the kill, and obviously, we would have liked to have some of those back. But it was big to get back in the game, and I liked how the guys battled through the third as well."
 
On the fan atmosphere at CC: "All four years I've been here, it's been awesome home and away when we play CC. It's a huge rivalry between our two programs, and I think guys play better when they are in that atmosphere.


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