Denver rallies from two-goal deficit, ties Colorado College to retain Gold Pan trophy

The Gold Pan is staying in Denver.

The Denver Pioneers tied the Colorado College Tigers 2-2 on Friday night at Ed Robson Arena to secure the esteemed trophy for the seventh season in a row.

DU went on to win the best-of-three shootout at the end of overtime to earn an extra point in the conference standings, but the Friday night game officially goes down as a tie.

“It was a well-earned two points – tight around the conference tonight, as everyone probably saw with ties and things fell our way in overtime,” said DU head coach David Carle. “So gained some points on teams around us and in front of us, so that was good.

“The game overall tonight, I thought it was what we expected. I mean, shots 32-31. Each team with a power-play goal – they got two actually. And I like us for the most part at 5-on-5, most of the night outside maybe the first five-to-seven minutes of the third period. But you know, to get down 2-0, to feel like maybe some of the stuff wasn’t going our way in the game – through some adversity – and to fight our way back and show a lot of urgency and desperation was great.”

Kristian Epperson netted the only goal of the shootout in the second round and goaltender Johnny Hicks stopped all three pucks he faced from Colorado College to give DU two points on the evening. Hicks made 30 saves through overtime, including five in the extra five-minute 3-on-3 period.

Rieger Lorenz and Jake Fisher both recorded a goal in the second period to tie the contest after the Pioneers were down 2-0 early in the frame.

“It’s our biggest rivalry,” said Lorenz. “It’s nice to beat those guys consistently year in and year out. I think both goals in the second were really big, obviously. Both their goals were on the kill, and obviously, we would have liked to have some of those back, but it was big to get back in the game, and I liked how the guys battled through the third as well.

“All four years I’ve been here, it’s been awesome home and away when we play CC. It’s a huge rivalry between our two programs, and I think guys play better when they are in that atmosphere.”

Klavs Veinbergs recorded two power-play goals for CC within 1:23 of one another at 19:03 of the first period and at 0:26 of the second.

Three minutes after Veinbergs’ second, Lorenz responded by registering his 10th goal of the year, scoring in back-to-back games for the first time since Nov. 8-9, 2024 versus Lindenwood. With 1:59 remaining in the second, Fisher tied the contest after missing on his initial shot during a rush up the ice.

Tigers goaltender Jackson Unger saved 29 shots, with CC and DU switching leads on shots on goals each period. Colorado College began with 10-8 edge in pucks on net in the first before Denver outshot CC 10-9 in the second. Third period shots ended even at 8-8.

Colorado finished 2-for-4 on the power play while Lorenz tallied DU’s only man-advantage marker on three opportunities.

“It’s the first trophy you get a chance to win,” said Carle. “You know, to have it seven straight years is quite a feat. I don’t know what the longest streak is. I think we lost it in the 2018-19 season, I want to say. And we haven’t lost it since then. You know, we had it for a good stretch before that. But, yeah, proud of our guys. It’s a trophy that means a lot to our players and our alumni. And to have that, you know, at home in Denver is a big thing for us and our fans.

“I thought it was a really competitive game, exactly what we had thought. You wouldn’t think this is the second-place team and the eighth or ninth place, wherever they are in the standings, playing here tonight. You thought that was a fight for home ice. They’re a really good hockey team.”

Denver added a 4-1 win over the Tigers Saturday night back at Magness Arena.

Photo/Adri Meyer