It wasn’t looking good for the #4 Denver Pioneers (7-3-1, 3-0-0 NCHC) with just four minutes left in regulation as their archrivals, the #17 Colorado College Tigers (6-4-1, 1-3-1 NCHC), held a 1-0 lead and had fully collapsed into their patented neutral zone trap. But one misplayed save by CC senior goaltender Kaidan Mbereko later, DU defenseman Eric Pohlkamp swatted home the tying goal, which gave Boston Buckberger the stage to win it three and a half minutes into three-on-three overtime. The 2-1 victory means the Pioneers drew first blood in this year’s Battle for the Gold Pan and are one win away from retaining the trophy for the seventh straight year.

It wasn’t a pretty game for either team for the first two periods. Both defenses kept everything on the perimeter, and on the rare occasion the puck did find its way to the inside, both goaltenders, Mbereko for CC and freshman Quentin Miller for DU, were there to keep the puck out of the back of the net. The only truly dangerous chance through the first two periods came on CC’s Tomas Mrsic’s penalty shot after Buckberger was caught covering the puck with his hand in the crease with 7:25 left in the first period. But Miller made the save with relative ease, and the game remained scoreless.

Even much of the third period – when both of the regulation goals were scored – was played to a defensive stalemate. It wasn’t until the Tigers, buoyed by a few fantastic saves by Mbereko to keep DU off the scoreboard, finally broke the scoreless tie off the rush when Ryan Alexander found Riley Stuart alone in the slot. Stuart then wired a perfect wrister past Miller to give the visitors the lead.

CC, true to its brand, immediately collapsed into its stout defensive posture (in other words, the neutral zone trap) and happily avoided pushing the puck up the ice to try to expand its lead, instead choosing to double down on keeping DU to the outside and ensuring that Mbereko saw everything sent his way. Of course, the risk with this strategy when you’re up by one goal is that it only takes one bounce to tie the game. DU’s bounce finally came with three and a half minutes left in regulation after Sam Harris deflected the misplayed rebound from his own shot to Pohlkamp, who had a wide-open net to shoot at. He didn’t miss.

So, apropos for this goaltenders’ duel, the game went to overtime, which, similar to the first two periods, was evenly played, though CC played to a slight advantage. Miller was called on a couple of times in the first few minutes to make some important saves, but it was Buckberger, with a minute and a half left in three-on-three, who put on his superhero’s cape and, well, I’ll let the video do the rest:

BUCKBERGER WINS IT IN OT! See you tomorrow!#GoPios pic.twitter.com/rdruAakC0K

— Denver Hockey (@DU_Hockey) November 15, 2025

By winning in overtime rather than in the shootout, the Pioneers kept alive the goal of retaining the Gold Pan this weekend and, in the bigger picture, earned another win rather than a tie. One more non-shootout victory tomorrow night and the Gold Pan will stay home and the Pioneers will lay claim to their first trophy of the season. The puck drops at Ed Robson Arena in Colorado Springs tomorrow at 6 pm and will be available for streaming on NCHC.tv.

Top photo by Tyler Schank/Clarkson Creative Photography via Denver Athletics