The final score doesn’t really reflect the 60 minutes of hockey that was played at Magness Arena on Friday night, but that won’t give David Carle too much solace. 

With a chance to clinch the season series against top conference foe Western Michigan (15-6-0, 6-4-0 NCHC) in what is a rematch of last year’s Frozen Four matchup in St. Louis, No. 7 Denver (12-8-2, 8-3-0 NCHC) fell 4-1 as the Pioneers remained winless in their first three games of 2026.

“I liked our stick-to-itiveness. We didn’t go away, we didn’t shy away,” DU coach David Carle said. “You earn your bounces in this game, but they bank it off our goalie on the first one (and) the second one goes off a toe or a heel as they’re trying to put it to the paint. That’s just a little bit of what it is for us right now. I would like us to have better offensive execution on the power play, but when you generate that many power plays, you are doing something right. 

“It’s a great game for us to be in, it’s a great opponent for us to play. They’re the best team in the country for a reason and the margins are very tight against them.”

The margins were as tight as they come on Friday night, as Carle pointed out. The Broncos struck first less than a minute into the game after Pios goalie Quentin Miller made a terrific save on a shot by Liam Valente, but the senior left winger shot the rebound off Miller and into the back of the net.

DU was threatening for an equalizer for the majority of the first two periods as Western Michigan players went to the penalty box five different times in the first 40 minutes, giving the Pios 10 minutes of man-advantage time. 

The power play has arguably been the weakest aspect of DU’s game this season and that continued against the Broncos with plenty of wasted opportunities and shots whizzing past the goal, but also plenty of times where the Pios were retrieving the puck from their own end after a clearance.

“Faceoffs, to start, weren’t great. They’re winning it and now we’re having to go 200 feet. Now, our next entry (there’s) 25 seconds (that) have gone off the board. When your top unit has to go back a couple times, it takes a lot of juice out of it,” Carle said. “I thought our second unit came on and made some nice plays to relieve some pressure. Once we started to win the faceoffs, like we did on the last power play in the second, like we did on the 6-on-4, I thought it gave us a chance to start to cook with something because when we can get it in zone, we’re pretty dangerous. The challenge is getting it there now.”

The Pios were in danger of being shut out at home for the first time since early in the 2022-23 season, but Boston Buckberger found the back of the net with under two minutes to go during a 6-on-4 advantage with a power play and the goalie pulled.

The only other time DU got one past WMU goalie Hampton Slukynsky was on a goal by Eric Pohlkamp that was wiped away for goalie interference midway through the final period.

“He’s a really good goalie,” Carle said. “He made a lot of five-star saves, especially in the third. That was the period where we generated the most chances.”

The Broncos iced the game with a pair of empty-net goals in the final 1:01. 

DU still has a chance to clinch the season series against WMU on Saturday night with puck drop set for 6 p.m. (Altitude 2) at Magness Arena.

“It’s what makes our league great. There’s really good teams. They’re not the only great team in our league,” Carle said. “They’re the best one, right now, and that’s our focus is being professionals, not feeling sorry for ourselves… and come back ready to work tomorrow because it’s gonna be a really good hockey game. These weekends are what makes us better and prepares us for what’s to come.”