![\"Miami\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Miami-OH.png\")
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Next Game:<\/p>\n
Miami<\/p>\n
3\/7\/2026 | 6 p.m. MT<\/p>\n
\n NCHC.tv
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\n Denver Sports 104.3 HD3
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\n Mar. 07 (Sat) \/ 6 p.m. MT
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\n \u00a0Miami
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History <\/a><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n DENVER \u2013 Freshman Clarke Caswell<\/a> 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.\u00a0
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\nDenver\u00a0(22-11-3, 17-6-1\u00a0NCHC)\u00a0is the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament and looks\u00a0to close out\u00a0the best-of-three series against seventh-seeded Miami\u00a0(18-15-2, 9-13-2 NCHC)\u00a0on Saturday at 6 p.m. MT in Game 2 on the DU campus.\u00a0Limited tickets are still available, and the contest will be broadcast exclusively on NCHC.tv.\u00a0
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\nFreshman\u00a0Johnny Hicks<\/a>\u00a0led the\u00a0Pioneers\u00a0in net, as the goaltender registered his second career shutout while\u00a0stopping all\u00a023 shots.\u00a0His first clean sheet came in a 1-0 overtime win on Jan. 31 against Minnesota Duluth.
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\n“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<\/a>. “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.”
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\nCaswell tallied the only goal for the first 58-plus minutes of the outing, scoring at 9:21 in the first period\u00a0with\u00a0junior defenseman\u00a0Cale Ashcroft<\/a> and\u00a0junior forward Sam Harris<\/a>\u00a0being\u00a0credited with assists on the play.\u00a0\u00a0
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\nThere\u00a0were\u00a0no other markers until\u00a0senior forward Rieger Lorenz<\/a>\u00a0netted his\u00a014th\u00a0goal of the campaign\u00a0into the\u00a0empty net\u00a0at 18:31 of the\u00a0final stanza.\u00a0Twenty-six seconds later, freshman defenseman Eric Jamieson<\/a> registered another empty-net goal to finalize the score.\u00a0
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\nRedHawks\u00a0goaltender Matteo Drobac\u00a0stopped\u00a032-of-33 shots that the Pios sent his way. Denver held a 36-23 edge\u00a0in shots on goal,\u00a0with the\u00a0Pioneers owning a 27-14 margin in shots after 40 minutes of play.
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\nBoth teams only received one power play throughout the contest, and neither\u00a0were able to capitalize\u00a0off of\u00a0the man advantage.\u00a0\u00a0
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\nUP 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.
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\nPOSTGAME NOTES<\/p>\n
\n\tDenver 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.\u00a0
\n\tThe Pioneers have now won seven straight contests and are unbeaten in their last 22 games (21-0-1) against Miami.
\n\tDU 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.\u00a0
\n\tDenver posted its sixth shutout of the season, which leads the NCHC and is tied for first in the nation (Clarkson University).
\n\tThe 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.
\n\tJohnny Hicks<\/a> 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.\u00a0
\n\tHicks is now on a career-long 115:54 shutout streak, beating his previous best of 100:33 across two games from Jan. 16-30.
\n\tSenior forward Rieger Lorenz<\/a> extended his career-long point streak (6g\/5a) to eight games.
\n\tSam Harris<\/a> 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.\u00a0
\n\tClarke Caswell<\/a> is on a three-game point streak (1g\/2a) and scored his third game-winning goal of the season.
\n\tKristian Epperson<\/a> missed Friday night’s contest due to illness.\u00a0
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\nGOAL SUMMARY
\n1st Period
\n9:21\u00a0DU\u00a0(1-0) \u2013\u00a0Sam Harris<\/a> brought the puck into the zone\u00a0before Cale Ashcroft<\/a> picked it up near the boards and sent a pass through the slot to Clarke Caswell<\/a>,\u00a0who wristed it into the net.\u00a0\u00a0
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\n2nd Period
\nNo Scoring
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\n3rd Period
\n18:31 DU (2-0) \u2013 ENG, Rieger Lorenz<\/a> scored into an empty net from the neutral zone.
\n18:57 DU (3-0) \u2013 ENG, Eric Jamieson<\/a> fired the puck from behind his own goal line and it slid 200 feet into the open net.
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\nQUOTABLES
\nRichard and Kitzia Goodman Hockey Head Coach David Carle<\/a>
\nOn 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.”
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\nOn 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.”
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\nSenior Forward Rieger Lorenz<\/a>
\nOn 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\u2014the first game of playoffs. I like the resilience from our group.”
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\nOn goaltender Johnny Hicks’<\/a> 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.”
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