AMHERST, Mass. – The No. 1 Denver Pioneers hockey team dropped its first game of the 2022-23 campaign on Friday night, falling 4-2 to the No. 13 Massachusetts Minutemen at Mullins Center.
 
DU (2-1-0) and UMass (1-0-1) face off again on Saturday night at 5:30 p.m. MT (ESPN+) to wrap up their two-game, non-conference series.
 
The Pioneers scored twice with the extra attacker in the third period as Carter Mazur redirected Jack Devine's shot at 13:19 and Shai Buium tallied on a slap shot from the point at 15:48, but they couldn't make up the deficit.
 
Tristan Broz, Casey Dornbach and Massimo Rizzo also had assists in the game for Denver.
 
Friday's matchup was a meeting of the past two national champions, but it was 2021 title-holder Massachusetts that jumped out to a lead that was never relinquished. The Minutemen led 3-0 in the first period and held off Denver's attack for most of the game. DU finished with a 47-15 edge in shots on goal but couldn't get anything past goaltender Luke Pavicich until the closing minutes.
 
DU netminder Magnus Chrona made 11 saves but didn't play for most of the final eight minutes while the Pioneers had the extra attacker on the ice.
 
UMass opened the scoring by registering two short-handed goals while Denver was on a five-minute power play, as Cal Kiefiuk was given a major penalty and game misconduct for a check from behind just 38 seconds into the night. Kenny Connors tallied at 3:32 and Scott Morrow doubled the Minutemen's lead 78 seconds later.
 
Tyson Dyck found the back of the cage with 7:27 left in the first period and Reed Lebster scored on Massachusetts' only power play at 2:28 of the second frame to add to the lead.
 
The Pioneers went 1-for-4 on their man-advantage opportunities.
 
 
POSTGAME NOTES

• Tristan Broz recorded his first point as a Pioneer with an assist on Carter Mazur's goal.
• Carter Mazur has scored a goal in all three games this season, while Massimo Rizzo (0g/3a) and Casey Dornbach (2g/3a) are on three-game point streaks to start the campaign.
• Denver dropped its first regular season game to UMass, falling to 5-2-0 all-time. The Pioneers were playing their first game in Amherst since Dec. 17, 2013.
• This weekend's series marks the only road, non-conference games that DU will play this season.

 
GOAL SUMMARY
1st Period
3:32 UMass (0-1) – SHG, Kenny Connors scored after taking a centering pass from Reed Lebster while Denver was on a major power play.
4:50 UMass (0-2) – SHG, Scott Morrow tallied in the low shot following a feed from Ryan Lautenbach.
12:33 UMass (0-3) – Tyson Dyck scored on a rebound in the low slot after Cole O'Hara shot was stopped.
 
2nd Period
2:48 UMass (0-4) – PPG, Reed Lebster redirected a shot from the low slot into the cage.
 
3rd Period
13:19 DU (1-4) – Carter Mazur deflected Jack Devine's wrist shot from the top of the slot while stationed in front of the crease.
15:48 DU (2-4) – Shai Buium found the back of the net with a slap shot from the top of the right circle.
 
 
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