LOVELAND, Colo. – The No. 2-seed University of Denver hockey team shut out No. 3 Cornell 5-0 on Friday afternoon at Blue Arena in the NCAA West Regional Semifinals to set up an NCHC rematch against top-regional seed Western Michigan for a spot in this year's NCAA Frozen Four.
 
Denver is aiming to reach its third-straight national semifinals and fourth in five years with a 1 p.m. MT matchup on Sunday against the WMU Broncos in Northern Colorado. Defending national champion Western Michigan defeated Minnesota State 3-1 in the other regional semifinal on Friday afternoon.
 
The Pioneers and Broncos squared off two weeks ago on March 14 in the NCHC Semifinals, and DU earned a 2-1 win in overtime on home ice at Magness Arena. The teams also met last season in the postseason, playing into double-overtime in both matchups in the 2025 NCHC Championship and NCAA Frozen Four.
 
Goaltender Johnny Hicks posted his third shutout of the season on Friday, and the Pioneers benefited with three of their five goals coming on redirections in front of a crowd of 4,217 mostly clad DU fans in crimson and gold. Hicks stopped all 24 shots that came his way, denying seven in the first period, eight in the second and nine in the third.
 
"Really proud of how we played tonight," said Denver Richard and Kitzia Goodman Hockey Head Coach David Carle. "I thought we were excellent from the first shot of the puck, our speed was there all night long with or without the puck, and I thought the guys executed at a really high level. Obviously, congratulations to Cornell on a great year. A formidable opponent we've seen a lot of times in this event over the past couple of years, and they make you earn every inch of ice out there. Our guys were up to the task tonight—made plays, got a couple of bounces as well, and it was a really good night for us."
 
Junior Sam Harris and freshman Clarke Caswell each had a goal and an assist, and defenseman Cale Ashcroft also had a multi-point performance with two assists. Senior Rieger Lorenz, junior Kieran Cebrian and sophomore Jake Fisher also scored for the Pioneers, who stretched their unbeaten streak to 14 games (13-0-1).
 
Fisher and Cebrian began the scoring with deflections through traffic in the first period. Fisher got his stick on Ashcroft's shot from the left point 6:08 into the contest, and Cebrian was able to connect his twig on Eric Jamieson's shot from the right circle with 4:27 remaining in the stanza.
 
Denver held the two-goal advantage until Harris hit twine on a wrister with 4:27 remaining before the second intermission to stretch the lead to 3-0. Caswell tallied on a redirection while skating through the slot at 5:06 of the third frame, and Lorenz scored into an empty net with 3:48 remaining in regulation.
 
Cornell goaltender Alexis Cournoyer made 25 saves as the Pioneers outshot the Big Red 30-24 in the contest.
 
DU went 0-for-2 on the man advantage while Cornell was scoreless on its lone power-play opportunity.
 
UP NEXT: The Pioneers face the Western Michigan Broncos on Sunday at 1 p.m. MT in the NCAA Regional Final at Blue Arena in Loveland. The game will be televised on ESPN2. Limited tickets are available.
 
 
POSTGAME NOTES

• Denver improved to 47-26 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and 24-12 in opening-round contests.
• The Pioneers and Cornell were meeting in the NCAA Tournament for the third time in four years (2023, 2024), with DU now winning each of the past two contests.
• DU is now 4-3 all-time in the NCAA Tournament vs. Cornell and holds a 9-6-0 record in the all-time series.
• The Pios improved to 11-2 all-time in National Tournament games in the state of Colorado and 3-0 in Loveland.
• DU's five goals scored was its most in an NCAA Tournament game since it also scored five last year in the Northeast Regional Semifinals vs. Providence in Manchester, N.H., and its five-goal margin of victory was the squad's largest since beating Notre Dame 6-1 in the 2017 Frozen Four Semifinals in Chicago, Ill.
• Denver posted its eighth shutout in its history of the NCAA Tournament. It was the Pioneers' first shutout since beating Boston College 2-0 in the 2024 NCAA National Championship Game in St. Paul, Minn.
• The shutout was DU's eighth of the season, the most by any team in the NCAA in 2025-26.
• Rieger Lorenz scored his 16th goal of the year to tie a career high for a single season and stretched his career-long point streak to 12 games, tied for the fifth-longest by a Denver skater since 2005.
• Lorenz played in his 166th career game, one shy of matching DU's record by a four-year player (Ed Cristofoli, 1985-1989).
• The Pioneers stretched their winning streak to 10 games and unbeaten streak to 14 games (13-0-1). The winning streak is their longest since winning their first 12 games to start the 2024-25 campaign, while its unbeaten streak is the fifth-longest in a single season in program history and the longest since the 2016-17 championship team had a 12-0-3 record early in their campaign.
• Goaltender Johnny Hicks also pushed his unbeaten streak to 14 games and winning streak to 10 contests, both career longs. He is on a 103:51 shutout streak.
• The freshman Hicks registered his third career shutout, tied for the most by a DU goaltender this season (Quentin Miller). He has allowed one goal or fewer in 10 of the 14 games during his current unbeaten streak.
• Jake Fisher scored the first game-winning goal of his career and ninth tally of the season, tying a personal best for a single campaign.
• Freshman Clarke Caswell recorded his fourth multi-point game of the season and his second straight after also having a goal and an assist vs. Minnesota Duluth in the NCHC Final on March 27.
• Sam Harris (1g/1a) registered his fifth multi-point performance of the campaign.
• Cale Ashcroft had two assists for his first multi-point game of the season. He now has a career-high nine assists this season.
• Boston Buckberger and Sam Harris both played in their 125th career games.
• Eight Pioneers played in their first career NCAA Tournament game: Clarke Caswell, Kyle Chyzowski, Kristian Epperson, Johnny Hicks, Eric Jamieson, Brendan McMorrow, Brady Milburn and Reid Varkonyi.
• Denver took just one penalty for the sixth time this season.

 
GOAL SUMMARY
1st Period
6:08 DU (1-0) – Jake Fisher deflected Cale Ashcroft's shot from the left point into the top half of the cage.
15:33 DU (2-0) – Kieran Cebrian scored after fighting through traffic and redirecting Eric Jamieson's shot from the top of the right circle.
 
2nd Period
15:31 (3-0) – Sam Harris hit twine with a wrist shot after Denver forced a turnover in the Cornell zone on a failed clearing attempt.
 
3rd Period
5:06 DU (4-0) – Clarke Caswell streaked through the slot and tipped Cale Ashcroft's shot into the near-side of the cage.
16:12 DU (5-0) – ENG, Rieger Lorenz deposited the puck into a gaping net from the crease after taking a pass by James Reeder.
 
 
QUOTABLES
Richard and Kitzia Goodman Hockey Head Coach David Carle
On how this game ranked compared to other postseason contests: "It goes back to 2017, every game in that tournament—how we started against [Michigan] Tech, Penn State and Notre Dame was very reminiscent of, in our opinion, tonight. Certainly, this was a different game than the last two Cornell games from our execution and the speed that we were able to play with, but it was a really good performance from our team throughout. I think you saw the depth—every line gets a goal, special teams were good for us, discipline was good, you know, we didn't give them a lot for free [shots] and when we did, like these guys talked about, Johnny [Hicks] was there."
 
On the losing streak on the middle of the season: "I think there's always adversity during the season and either you find your way through it or you don't, and it's a good sign that we did and we have in the past. So I think we have the confidence that we could get through it. We played through a really tough stretch, you know, Maine at home, Western [Michigan] at home, at North Dakota, St. Cloud at home, Duluth at home. You know, that's a pretty good gauntlet to go through and the margins in college hockey along with the seeds being so tight, it never felt like we were playing poorly during that stretch."
 
On the team's resilience through the tough stretch: "It really gave us an opportunity to look in the mirror as to how we were playing and to be more detailed and dialed in. The guys should've done that. It's a combination of a lot of different things - the [Rieger] Lorenz, [Samu] Salminen and [James] Reeder line were put together, shortly into that run as well, and I think they have been excellent for us. The [Jake] Fisher line has given us really good depth, as you saw tonight. They really started to get us going at the start of that stretch, so it's really been everybody. It gave us a lot of confidence, so if we were going to get through it, we'd have the chance to be one of the last six teams."
 
Junior Forward Sam Harris
On his line's performance: "Yeah, it's been great, Cazzy (Clarke Caswell) and Eppy (Kristian Epperson) have been doing a great job, and I'm just trying to support them. You know, they're smart players, they see the ice better than I do. So I just try to get in a spot for them, and they've been doing a great job making the plays."
 
On the team's outlook when things weren't going well previously in the season: "I never thought once that we were out of it, especially the last 13-14 games, or whatever it is, you know the run we have been on. Continuing to build on what we've been doing, and we put a lot of work in practice and ensuring that we're sticking true to the details and making sure that we're playing the game the right way."
 
Junior Forward Kieran Cebrian
On maintaining momentum throughout the game: "Yeah, we didn't go away. I was impressed with our group. Last weekend, we were up 3-0 and ended up tied 3-3. So we just made sure that we kept managing pucks, making the right plays, and doing what we did in the first period."
 
On facing Western Michigan again: "Yeah, the NCHC is a great league, that's why lots of us come here. So getting to play them six times this year is a privilege."
 
Sophomore Forward Jake Fisher
On having a bit of a home-ice advantage during the Loveland Regionals: "Yeah, obviously we are used to going east, so having a regional here (in Colorado) was awesome. The building was great tonight. We've got such a great fan base, the building was awesome."
 
On creating traffic to create goals: "[Kieran Cerian] said it great - a big emphasis for us was two on the inside. Those were executed well."
 
On the buildup to this win: "You know, it's good to go through adversity, through that stretch in around January. We all stuck together, we all stuck through it and worked even harder. We went through adversity there and learned from it, which is why I think we are doing so well now. We are built for these moments."