DU Pioneers celebrate “Tenver” one last time with banner-raising at Magness Arena

It’s been official for months. But on Saturday night inside a sold-out Magness Arena, the University of Denver hockey team put it in the rafters.

The Pioneers celebrated their “Tenver” title one last time, raising their NCAA record 10th national championship banner prior to the last of two home games against 19th-ranked Northeastern on opening weekend.

Then the top-ranked Pioneers (4-0) took the ice to make sure it isn’t the last, taking down Northeastern, 5-2, to stay unbeaten to start the season.

Senior forward Carter King, one of a handful of returners from last year’s title team, scored two goals and dished an assist in the win. Sophomores Sam Harris, Eric Pohlkamp and Boston Buckberger chipped in a goal apiece, and junior Aidan Thompson had two assists.

DU claimed its 10th national title, and second under current head coach David Carle, with a gritty four-game run through the NCAA Tournament that included three straight 2-1 wins, two of which went to overtime. The Frozen Four title game against top-seed Boston College in St. Paul, Minn., was fittingly a 2-0 shutout victory that saw goaltender Matt Davis cement his status as a DU hockey legend.

Davis was back in net Saturday night and made 27 saves to move to 4-0 with a pair of two-game sweeps at Alaska Anchorage and home to Northeastern.

Five different Pios scored in Friday night’s 5-2 win over Northeastern in front of the largest attendance for a home opener in program history (6,837). That included a goal and an assist from freshman Jake Fisher, while Buckberger had two assists.