DENVER – Freshman Clarke Caswell scored the game-winning goal in the first period and the No. 7-ranked Denver Pioneers hockey team beat the Miami RedHawks 3-0 on Friday night at Magness Arena in Game 1 of the NCHC Frozen Faceoff Quarterfinals. 
 
Denver (22-11-3, 17-6-1 NCHC) is the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament and looks to close out the best-of-three series against seventh-seeded Miami (18-15-2, 9-13-2 NCHC) on Saturday at 6 p.m. MT in Game 2 on the DU campus. Limited tickets are still available, and the contest will be broadcast exclusively on NCHC.tv. 
  
Freshman Johnny Hicks led the Pioneers in net, as the goaltender registered his second career shutout while stopping all 23 shots. His first clean sheet came in a 1-0 overtime win on Jan. 31 against Minnesota Duluth.
 
"You don't get to script up how the game gets to go per se, but I thought mentally we were involved, we were into it all night long," said Richard and Kitzia Goodman Hockey Head Coach David Carle. "Obviously, love how we started the game, their goaltender played excellent certainly early. You know, their best stretch obviously at the start of that third period, I thought we weathered the storm pretty good. Johnny was there when we needed him, but we really connected and didn't get outnumbered on the inside much."
 
Caswell tallied the only goal for the first 58-plus minutes of the outing, scoring at 9:21 in the first period with junior defenseman Cale Ashcroft and junior forward Sam Harris being credited with assists on the play.  
 
There were no other markers until senior forward Rieger Lorenz netted his 14th goal of the campaign into the empty net at 18:31 of the final stanza. Twenty-six seconds later, freshman defenseman Eric Jamieson registered another empty-net goal to finalize the score. 
 
RedHawks goaltender Matteo Drobac stopped 32-of-33 shots that the Pios sent his way. Denver held a 36-23 edge in shots on goal, with the Pioneers owning a 27-14 margin in shots after 40 minutes of play.
 
Both teams only received one power play throughout the contest, and neither were able to capitalize off of the man advantage.  
 
UP NEXT: Denver and Miami face off in Game 2 of the NCHC Frozen Faceoff Quarterfinals on Saturday at 6 p.m. MT. If necessary, Game 3 is Sunday at 6 p.m. MT.
 
 
POSTGAME NOTES

• Denver now owns a 22-3 all-time mark in the NCHC quarterfinals and is 6-1-0 all-time against Miami in the conference postseason. 
• The Pioneers have now won seven straight contests and are unbeaten in their last 22 games (21-0-1) against Miami.
• DU is 17-0-1 versus Miami at home since February 2019, and each of the past six contests at Magness Arena in the series have ended in victories for the Pioneers. 
• Denver posted its seventh shutout of the season, which leads the NCHC and is tied for first in the nation (Union).
• The Pios are currently on a season-long, 10-game unbeaten streak (9-0-1) that dates back to Jan. 23 versus St. Cloud State. It is the longest unbeaten stretch since Denver won each of its first 12 games to start the 2024-25 season.
• Johnny Hicks is on a 10-game unbeaten streak to begin his college career (9-0-1), which is the longest such stretch by a Denver goalie since at least the start of the 2002-03 campaign. 
• Hicks is now on a career-long 115:54 shutout streak, beating his previous best of 100:33 across two games from Jan. 16-30.
• Senior forward Rieger Lorenz extended his career-long point streak (6g/5a) to eight games.
• Sam Harris stretched his career-best assist streak to six games (3g/6a), as he recorded the secondary assist off of the opening marker. His helper streak is the longest of the season by a DU player. 
• Clarke Caswell is on a three-game point streak (1g/2a) and scored his third game-winning goal of the season.
• Kristian Epperson missed Friday night's contest due to illness. 

 
GOAL SUMMARY
1st Period
9:21 DU (1-0) – Sam Harris brought the puck into the zone before Cale Ashcroft picked it up near the boards and sent a pass through the slot to Clarke Caswell, who wristed it into the net.  
 
2nd Period
No Scoring
 
3rd Period
18:31 DU (2-0) – ENG, Rieger Lorenz scored into an empty net from the neutral zone.
18:57 DU (3-0) – ENG, Eric Jamieson fired the puck from behind his own goal line and it slid 200 feet into the open net.
 
 
QUOTABLES
Richard and Kitzia Goodman Hockey Head Coach David Carle
On the physicality of the game: "I thought both teams played pretty desperate physically. They didn't shy away from it, they're a pretty physical team. They're well coached and detailed within their structure and how they do things. We probably don't get enough credit for our checking and our physicality, but I thought we did a good job tonight of getting in their way and making sure they had to come through us to get to our net."
 
On how D-core performed: "We kept it simple for the most part, but they picked their spots to make some dynamic plays as well. A lot of the night they carried the pace, which was what we needed out of them."
 
Senior Forward Rieger Lorenz
On win over Miami: "They're obviously a really good team. Personally, I don't think that was; that probably was one of our least strong games I think in the last month. But I think good teams find a way to win even when we are not playing our best. I thought it was a little bit choppy in the neutral zone, we gave some pucks away. We get a chance to do it tomorrow, and it was a big win for us—the first game of playoffs. I like the resilience from our group."
 
On goaltender Johnny Hicks' performance: "We trust him, he's been awesome for us. We've always known what we've had with him. It's awesome to see a guy like that keep getting rewarded. He's been a rock for us at the most important time of the year. To be honest, in January we weren't very comfortable with where we were at, and then he came in and he's 9-0-1 so he's been real for us."
 

TICKETS: Tickets for DU hockey's NCHC Quarterfinal games against Miami are available. Click here for more information.