Beating Colorado College will never get old for Denver. No matter the state of either program, beating the Tigers is always sweet. But sometimes, there are rivalry victories that feel just a bit sweeter than others. Even after winning the ten prior Gold Pan matchups, the #3 Denver Pioneers (28-8-0, 19-5-0 NCHC) will relish their 11th-straight victory over the Colorado College Tigers (10-21-3, 6-15-3 NCHC) a little bit more than most of the 10 prior thanks to a three-goal third period that ended the Tigers’ upset bid and sent the black and yellow-clad faithful home in sadness yet again. Tristan Lemyre tied the game, Aidan Thompson netted the game-winner, and Massimo Rizzo sealed it with an empty-netter to complete the 4-2 comeback victory. Continue reading Pioneers Ride Three-Goal Third Period to Complete 4-2 Comeback Victory at Colorado College →

Winning isn’t always pretty and when you win 27 regular-season games, some of them are bound to be ugly. But all wins look the same in the box score, even when you hit four posts, flub a late 2-on-0 chance, and get caught chasing for much of the second half of the game, that 27th victory looks just as beautiful as the 26 that came before it. For the Penrose Cup champion #3 Denver Pioneers (27-8-0, 18-5-0 NCHC), it looks even better since that ugly, beautiful 2-1 victory came on Senior Night in front of 6,667 screaming fans at Magness Arena and extended their winning streak over their archrival Colorado College Tigers (10-20-3, 6-14-3 NCHC)  to 10. Continue reading Pioneers Clip Tigers In Choppy 2-1 Victory to Extend Gold Pan Rivalry Winning Streak to 10 →

The #3 Denver Pioneers (26-8-0, 17-5-0 NCHC) are the 2022-23 Penrose Cup champions and, thanks to a weekend sweep of the  #5 Western Michigan Broncos (21-12-1, 13-8-1 NCHC) at Lawson Arena in Kalamazoo, MI, they will fly home with their second-straight regular season crown. A night ago, they were the beneficiaries of a third-period major penalty and scored twice on it to win 5-2 and tonight, despite committing six penalties including a major, they won 3-1. Continue reading Pioneers Clinch Second-Straight Penrose Cup With Weekend Sweep of Western Michigan →

The #3 Denver Pioneers (24-8-0, 15-5-0 NCHC) scored three goals in the third period to nearly erase a 5-2 deficit but their penalty kill couldn’t kill off a penalty when they absolutely had to and DU came up one goal shy in a 6-5 loss to the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs (13-16-1, 8-12-0 NCHC) in front of 6,361 fans in a sold-out Magness Arena. The loss ended the Pioneers’ winning streak at five and allowed the second-place Western Michigan Broncos to pull to within five points of the first-place Pios. Continue reading Pioneers’ Furious Third-Period Rally Comes Up Just Short as Winning Streak Ends Against UMD →

The #3 Denver Pioneers (24-7-0, 15-4-0 NCHC) added another win on Friday night and earned the opportunity to finish off the four-game season sweep of the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs (12-16-1, 7-12-0 NCHC) with a 6-2 victory. The Pios, who are 131-88-13 all-time vs UMD and 5-5 in the last 10 had one of their best performances of the season and continued to prove that they are ready for the playoffs as the stretch run draws closer. Continue reading Devine Intervention: Pioneer Forward Scores Twice as DU Rallies over UMD In Final Two Periods →

The #4 Denver Pioneers (23-7-0, 14-4-0 NCHC) swept the North Dakota Fighting Hawks (12-13-4, 6-10-2 NCHC) in a four-game regular season series for the first time since the 2009-10 season. After miserable travel delays and a long bus ride from Minneapolis to Grand Forks to kick off the series opener in November, the Pioneers managed to earn a huge early road sweep with 3-2 and 6-3 victories. Then, this weekend, working with shifting rules throughout both penalty-filled games, the Pioneers stayed on their march towards the postseason with 5-3 and 5-2 victories at Magness Arena to clinch the season series sweep and move eight points clear of second-place St. Cloud State and Western Michigan in the race for the Penrose Cup. Continue reading Pioneers Special Teams Shine as Denver Clinches Season Sweep of North Dakota →

The NCHC isn’t exactly known for its top-quality officials. There are entirely too many examples throughout the conference’s 10-year existence of referees inserting themselves into situations and affecting the outcomes of games. You can now add tonight’s 5-3 victory for the #4 Denver Pioneers (22-7-0, 13-4-0 NCHC) over the North Dakota Fighting Hawks (12-12-4, 6-9-2 NCHC), DU’s biggest out-of-state rival, at Magness Arena to that ever-growing list. Fortunately, unlike many of those others, the officials did not, in fact, affect the outcome, though Tom Stearns and Ryan Hersey tried their damnedest. Carter Mazur and his Pioneers, though, would not be denied and the Pioneers improved to 3-0 on the season vs their archrivals this season. Continue reading Pioneers Survive Referees, Poor Special Teams Play to Move to 3-0 vs North Dakota →