No. 7 Denver Advances Past (RV) Miami in Frozen Faceoff

Saturday, March 7

Denver, Colo.

8 p.m.

Miami University

18-16-2

Denver

23-11-3

Miami (OH)

Denver

Photo by: Liv Kakabeeke

No. 7 Denver Advances Past (RV) Miami in Frozen Faceoff

3/7/2026 10:55:00 PM | Hockey

Box Score Photo Gallery

DENVER– No. 7/7 Denver scored four times in the second period to erase an early one-goal deficit and went on to a 6-2 win over RV/NA Miami in NCHC playoff action Saturday. With the result, the second-seeded Pioneers (23-11-3) sweep the quarterfinal series in two games and will host Western Michigan in a March 14 semifinal. Ethan Hay and Doug Grimes scored a goal apiece for the seventh-seeded RedHawks, who end the season with an 18-16-2 record.

HOW IT HAPPENED

1:42 1st (Miami 1-0) | Miami needed less than two minutes to get on the scoreboard, as a diving, twisting rebound finish from Hay skating left to right made it 1-0 in favor of the visitors. Ryder Thompson fired the initial shot from the left point after Michael Quinn cycled the puck around the end wall to create the scoring chance.
5:12 2nd (Denver 1-1) | The Pioneers equalized on a fluky goal in the second period after a Rieger Lorenz shot bounced off Matteo Drobac, sat on top of the cage and then fell into the paint for James Reeder to jam home.
6:00 2nd (Denver 2-1) | Denver took the lead for good 48 seconds later. On a quick-developing 4-on-3 break, Kyle Chyzowski dropped a pass behind him to a trailing Boston Buckberger. Buckberger then laid the puck off to Kieran Cebrian. Cebrian shot and scored from the right circle to give DU a 2-1 lead.
8:48 2nd (Denver 3-1) | The Pioneers continued their push in the middle stanza, going in front 3-1 on a goal by Hagen Burrows. Jake Fisher retrieved the puck near center ice and Brady Milburn then set up Burrows with a perfectly-timed pass for a breakaway in the offensive zone.
18:59 2nd (Denver 4-1) | Denver extended its advantage with just over a minute to play in the second period. Drobac stopped a long shot by Eric Pohlkamp, but the rebound bounced loose for Reid Varkonyi near the goalpost, who tried to stuff it home with his backhand. Chyzowski was in the right place on the goal line to finish the play from a difficult angle and make it 4-1.
9:55 3rd (Denver 5-1) | The Pioneers added a power-play goal near the midway point of the final stanza. With the puck tied up in the corner, Denver's Sam Harris worked it free to Pohlkamp for a shot from the center of the offensive zone to put the hosts ahead 5-1. Clarke Caswell also had an assist on the play.
15:42 3rd (Miami 5-2) | With 4:18 to play, Grimes trimmed the deficit to 5-2 on a one-timer after a give-and-go with Vladislav Lukashevich. Hay started the rush with an outlet pass thru his legs to Grimes and earned the second assist.
19:17 3rd (Denver 6-2) | Fisher closed the scoring for Denver in the final minute of a game with an unassisted empty-net goal to account for the 6-2 final.

NOTES

Drobac made 31 stops and ends the season with 982 saves, passing Mark Michaud (972 in 1989-90) for the second-highest single-season total in program history.
Hay produced the third multi-point game of his career.
Grimes' goal was his 10th of the season.
Thompson picked up his 10th point, becoming the RedHawks' 12th double-figure scorer of the season.
Quinn and Lukashevich each earned their 25th career assists.

UP NEXT:
This concludes Miami's 2025-26 season.

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