No. 1 Pioniers start season with 6-2 victory in Alaska Anchorage

ANKERAGE, Alaska The No. 1 University of Denver hockey team used four power-play goals in the season opener to defeat the Alaska Anchorage Seawolves 6-2 at the Avis Alaska Sports Complex on Saturday night.

“Proud of how the team played. You never quite know what you're going to get in game 1, but they were certainly very excited to go out and play someone other than themselves,” said Richard and Kitzia Goodman Hockey Head Coach . David Carl. “I thought our jump was very good. I thought our fitness was good for the entire 60 minutes. The power play was obviously excellent. For me it's a good starting point.”

Junior Aidan Thompson And Sam Harris scored twice each, freshmen Jake Fisher recorded his first career goal and junior Jared Wright also applied to the defending champion Pioneers. Senior forward Jack Devine recorded a career-high four assists, second in defense Zeev Buium three helpers contributed and Rieger Lorenz also produced a few apples.

Senior goalkeeper Matt Davis stopped 10 shots in his second straight start on opening night.

The Pioneers outscored the Seawolves 38-12 overall, producing double-digit totals each period.

Aiden Westin tied the game at 1-1 for Alaska Anchorage with 6:32 left in the first period, but Harris notched his first marker of the night 2:26 later to start a run of five unanswered goals by DU.

The Pios found the back of the net twice on a big power play in the second stanza following an illegal hit to the head by the Seawolves' Tanner Edwards at 10:53. Thompson scored his second of the game 24 seconds into the extended man advantage, and Harris joined him in the multi-goal club with 52 seconds left on the foul.

Denver's four goals on the power play were the most in a game in nearly three years, as the school last scored that many times on a man-up on Dec. 4, 2021, at Arizona State.

Fisher recorded his first collegiate goal 5:13 into the third period. UAA's Joey Potter scored in the final minute of regulation to cap the UAA-DU goal series.

Seawolves goalie Greg Orosz finished with 32 saves, including 15 in the third.

NEXT: The Pioneers and Seawolves wrap up their season-opening series on Sunday at 7 p.m. MT/5pm AKT at Avis Alaska Sports Complex. The competition will be broadcast online for free on UAA Athletics YouTube.

POSTGAME NOTES

• The Pioneers played their first game against former WCHA foe Alaska Anchorage since October 19, 2013 in the Alaska Goal Rush Tournament in Fairbanks and played their first game in Anchorage since January 27-28, 2013.
• Denver improved to 49-16-7 all-time against UAA and has a 22-8-5 record in Anchorage. The Pios are 9-0-2 in their last 11 meetings and own a 33-7-3 record in the series since the start of the 1999-'00 season.
• The Pioneers won their fourth straight season opener and started on the road in back-to-back years after starting in Fairbanks, Alaska, against the Nanooks in 2023-2024. DU is now 43-25-7 all-time on opening night.
• The Oct. 5 start date is the second-earliest regular season start date in the past 25 years (Oct. 3, 2003 vs. Ohio State).
• Jack Devine recorded a career-high four assists, surpassing his previous best of three helpers (2x, last: January 19, 2024 in Omaha).
• Aidan Thompson scored twice for his second career multi-goal game (February 16, 2024 in Minnesota Duluth), and Sam Harris had two goals for his fourth career multi-goal game.
• Denver's four power-play goals surpassed the season high set in each of the past two years (2022-23 and 2023-24) and were the most in a game since the team went 4-for-6 at Arizona on Dec. 4, 2021. Stands.
• Freshmen forward Hagen Burrows, Jake Fisher And James Reeder and defender Tory Pitner all played in their first collegiate games. Fisher scored his first NCAA goal.
• Junior forward Samul Salminen and sophomore Eric Pohlkamp made their Pioneer debuts after joining the program as transfers in the offseason.
• Goalkeeper Matt Davis made his second straight opening night start after also guarding the pipes in the first game of 2023-2024 in Fairbanks, Alaska.
• Garrett Brown, Peter LaJoy And Alec Whipple were the scratches.
• Richard and Kitzia Goodman hockey head coach David Carl first headed the bank in his hometown of Anchorage, Alaska.
• Matt Davis A 136:52 shutout streak dating back to the NCAA Frozen Four on April 11 ended. The stretch was the longest of his career (previous: 127:19, March 9-16, 2024). It was the twelfth-longest shutout streak in program history and the longest to span multiple seasons.

PURPOSE SUMMARY
1st Period

4:54 DU (1-0) PPG, Aidan Thompson buried a one-time shot from a passerby Zeev Buium four seconds into a power play.
13:28 UAA (1-1) PPGAiden Westin scored a one-timer from the left circle with two seconds left on the man advantage.
15:54 DU (2-1) PPG, Sam Harris hit a loose puck in the low slot to give the Pioneers the lead again.

2nd Period

4:53 DU (3-1) Jared Wright went forehand-to-backhand with the puck and shoved it five holes on the UAA goaltender while standing all alone in front of the crease.
11:17 DU (4-1) PPG, Aidan Thompson found rope with a wrist shot from the top of the left circle early in a big power play.
15:01 DU (5-1) PPG, Sam Harris scored on a rebound in the low end after a shot from Carter King.

3rd Period

5:13 DU (6-1) Jake Fisher fired a wrist shot into the net while scrambling in the slot.
19:13 UAA (6-2) Joey Potter scored a goal in a battle for the goal.

QUOTABLES
Richard and Kitzia Goodman hockey head coach David Carl
On the Third Period Mentality: “I thought we kept our foot on the gas. Obviously it's a 1-1 score in the third, but I thought our puck pressure and our reloading, kind of attention to detail, things that we talked about stayed pretty high .”

On DU's four power play goals: “I'm sure that will be a point of interest for them, and we'll probably see more 5-on-5 play tomorrow night, which will be good. We saw our power play tonight and they were successful and got a little bit of mojo. Overall although it was good but a key point for them would be to play a bit more 5-on-5 tomorrow I thought we stayed hungry and were able to roll out four lines which was good for the boys to get into that mode.”

On the Jack Devine–Carter King–Aidan Thompson line: “I was curious to see what those guys would be like. I thought they had a good time in possession. They were clearly in power together and scored four goals at a high level, with Harris getting two and Thompson the other two. But at 5- against-5 I thought they were pretty good. Their puck support was good, and that's one of our bigger question marks; We're trying to figure out what we have and move some good things will get a lot of good videos and that education will happen, and I'm happy with the starting point that we have.”

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