Just hours after many University of Denver students groggily headed back to their residence halls after the DU Programming Board’s annual hockey campout with their golden tickets in tow, students and fans had their first opportunity to check out the 2022-2023 hockey squad in action as the team took on the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) in a pre-season exhibition match. The defending national champs routed the Rebels, picking up a 10-0 win that featured goals from 8 different student-athletes in their first game since taking home the trophy in Boston in April.
Denver picked up 3 goals in the first period, with sophomore forward Carter King (Calgary, Alberta) scoring off a rebound 4:40 into the game. A goal from sophomore defenseman and Colorado Avalanche prospect Sean Behrens (Barrington, Ill.) a little over halfway through the period and a deep shot into the net from sophomore forward Carter Mazur (Jackson, Mich.) finished off the first 20 minutes.
The Crimson and Gold were able to double their lead in the second period, starting with freshman forward Jared Wright (Burnsville, Minn.) The newcomer took a pass from King and sunk the puck in the net through the legs of the Rebel goaltender. Eight minutes into the period later, Wright traded passes with junior forward McKade Webster (St. Louis, Mo.) before Webster scored as a UNLV power play expired. King’s second of what would be three goals on the night closed out the second period to give Denver a commanding 6-0 lead.
DU was able to add four exclamation points in the third period, two of which were from freshmen with forward Rieger Lorenz (Calgary, Alberta) opening the scoring and forward Tyler Haskins (Rochester, Minn.) closing it out for the tenth goal of the night. In between, senior forward Brett Edwards (Grande Prairie, Alberta) added a tally and King finished his hat trick.
Though the scoreboard may have not reflected any level of competitiveness, King said the exhibition was an important step to getting in practice against a different set of players.
“With the amount of new guys that we have, we have been doing a lot of system work in practices, and being able to finally put that into a game against a different opponent I think is really important for us and will definitely help us next week,” he said.
Denver will officially kick off the regular season this weekend with the Ice Breaker Tournament, the traditional start to the NCAA Division I men’s college hockey season. DU will host Notre Dame on Friday night and Maine on Saturday.
