DENVER – Senior forward Rieger Lorenz had two points and the No. 8 Denver Pioneers hockey team finished the regular season series unbeaten against the Colorado College Tigers with a 4-1 victory on Saturday night at Magness Arena. 
 
The Pioneers (17-11-3, 13-6-1 NCHC) went 3-0-1 in the four games against Tigers (11-13-4, 5-9-4 NCHC) in 2025-26. DU and CC began their weekend series on Friday night in Colorado Springs with a 2-2 tie, but Denver did win the NCHC shootout at the end to earn a key extra point in the conference standings.
 
Lorenz recorded a goal and an assist on the night after tallying the game-tying marker on Friday at Colorado College. Junior forward Sam Harris tallied and had a helper to register his third multi-point contest of the campaign and first since Nov. 22 at Arizona State (two goals).
 
Junior defenseman Garrett Brown recorded his second marker of the season and his first career game-winning goal at end of the second stanza. Freshman forward Kristian Epperson began the contest's scoring for the Pios, who now have a 14-3 record when scoring first this year.
 
Junior defensemen Cale Ashcroft and Boston Buckberger were credited with assists on the night, as well as sophomore James Reeder and freshman Clarke Caswell. 
 
Tigers goaltender Kaidan Mbereko stopped 35-of-39 shots that the Pioneers sent his way. DU freshman goaltender Johnny Hicks saved 17-of-18 pucks placed on net, and DU finished with a 39-18 edge over CC in shots on goal.. 
 
Epperson started the scoring for the Pioneers' at 12:29 in the first period with his ninth goal of the campaign. Less than two minutes later, Brown pushed DU's lead up 2-0 on an assist by Lorenz.. 
 
The Tigers' Fisher Scott responded with their only marker of the night at 19:30 in the first period that cut CC's deficit to 2-1 at the intermission. At 5:11 in the third stanza, Lorenz netted his 11th goal of the season off of a nice pass by Reeder on a rush.
 
Fifty seconds into the final frame, Harris recorded the only power-play marker of the contest to finalize the score after a five-minute major penalty for spearing was issued to Colorado College at the end of the second.
 
CC received 21 penalty minutes in the contest while DU only took two penalties and killed off both successfully. The Pios went 1-for-5 on the power play.
 
UP NEXT: The Pioneers head to Nebraska next weekend to face the Omaha Mavericks in the teams' first and only series of the campaign. Both Friday and Saturday's games from Baxter Arena begin at 6 p.m. MT and will be broadcast on NCHC.tv.
 
 
POSTGAME NOTES

• Denver secured the Gold Pan for a seventh straight season with Friday's tie at CC. DU has won the Gold Pan 19 times compared to CC's 13 wins since the trophy began circulation in 1993-94.  
• DU is unbeaten in its last six games against Colorado College (5-0-1).
• Saturday's game featured a sellout crowd of 7,082, setting a new record for the highest attended hockey game in Magness Arena. Previous: 7,073 on Nov. 14 vs. Colorado College
• Rieger Lorenz is on a three-game goal streak (3g/1a) and has four goals in the last five games.
• Boston Buckberger blocked his 100th career shot on Saturday night.  
• Garrett Brown scored his first goal since Dec. 5 versus the Miami RedHawks and registered his first career game-winning marker.
• Goaltender Johnny Hicks remained unbeaten in his four career decisions (4-0-1).  

 
GOAL SUMMARY
1st Period 
12:29 DU (1-0) – Cale Ashcroft attempted a shot on goal before it got blocked, but Sam Harris picked up the loose puck on the other side of the net and passed it over to Kristian Epperson, who wristed it into the cage. 
14:12 DU (2-0) – Garrett Brown scored on a wrist shot from the middle of the O-zone after it bumped off of a CC player's stick. 
19:30 CC (2-1) – Fisher Scott tallied from the upper level of the Tigers' attacking zone after being fed the puck from Gavin Lindberg. 
 
2nd Period 
5:11 DU (3-1) – Rieger Lorenz tallied a tap-in, which began with him carrying the puck into the zone before passing it to James Reeder, who then returned it back to Lorenz for the close-range goal to close out the rush.
 
3rd Period 
0:50 DU (4-1) – PPG, Boston Buckberger possessed the puck near the faceoff circle and attempted a shot on goal before Sam Harris redirected it into the back of the net. 
 
 
QUOTABLES
Senior forward Rieger Lorenz
On the win after last night: "It was really good for us. Obviously, last night we got down two [goals] quick. I liked the resilience from our group, had to come back. And tonight I thought [we played] a full 60. Really proud of where we've come since the start of the second half here. And really excited to go to playoffs with this group."
 
On his recent goal-scoring stretch: "I don't think there's a difference. I'm still trying to work hard and get pucks in the net. And obviously that was a nice play by Jay [Reeder] on the second goal there tonight."
 
On goalie Johnny Hicks: "I said it last weekend, we've always known what we have with Johnny. We practiced with him all summer–all year. We're super confident [in him]. He puts the work in. He's an awesome dude. We're cheering for him and he's been awesome for us these last [five] games."
 
Junior Defenseman Garrett Brown
On how the fans support helped the team in the rivalry: "Yeah, I think every time we have CC here at home it's always a good atmosphere, and they (fans) just showed up, showed support, and I think that definitely helps us out."
 
On the pressure of today's game in comparison to yesterday's Gold Pan win: "I think the pressure was probably lower, but in terms of what we wanted to do, we still wanted to come out and win. Want to just send them home and try to end their season."
 
On going unbeaten during the season vs. CC: "It's big. Obviously last month, we had some tough stretches and didn't have the success we were looking for. So to get back-to-back sweeps here is super big for our group, and we're just hoping to carry it on down the road."
 
On Johnny Hicks' performance in the past few games: "He's been unbelievable. Obviously Q (Quentin Miller) has been unbelievable for us as well, and just things happen, injuries go down. And Hickey's (Johnny Hicks) been really able to step up in a big way for our group, and so it's been awesome."


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