The second-ranked Denver Pioneers retained the Gold Pan with a 5-1 victory over Colorado College Saturday night in front of a sold-out crowd of 3,749 at Ed Robson Arena.

Saturday's game was the 339th between the two schools, the most in any college hockey rivalry in the country. Michigan and Michigan State are second on the list with 337 games.
 
Boston Buckberger opened the scoring just 1:46 into the contest with a one-timer from the right circle that beat CC goalie Kaidan Mbereko after taking a pass from Tristan Broz.
 
The Tigers roared back to even the score at the five-minute mark of the opening frame when Gleb Veremyev forced a turnover, took a pass from Logan Will and was all alone on a clean breakaway against Denver goalie Freddie Halyk. Veremyev beat Halyk stick side for his fourth goal of the season.
 
For the second consecutive night, Denver dominated the middle frame, scoring twice and outshooting the Tigers, 11-4. Miko Matikka put the Pioneers ahead for good with a power-play goal at 10:13, taking a pass from Shai Buium and beating Mbereko from the slot.
 
Sam Harris made it 3-1 less than two minutes later. Jack Devine sent a pass from the corner that found Harris right in front and he put the puck in the back of the net.
 
CC (5-3-0, 0-2-0 NCHC) was handed a five-minute power play four minutes into the third period thanks to a boarding call against Broz. The Tigers mustered just one shot on goal and Mbereko stoned a breakaway by Jared Wright before Zaccharya Wisdom was whistled for tripping with 1:04 remaining in the Tiger power play.
 
Denver's Carter King scored a power-play goal at the 9:42 mark of the final frame to make it 4-1, then assisted on Wright's goal that deflected off a CC defender's skate and past Mbereko at 10:44 for the final goal of the game.
 
Denver (6-1-1, 2-0-0) outshot the Tigers, 27-21, with King collecting a game-high five. Jack Millar and Evan Werner each had a team-high four for CC, with Millar tying his career high.
 
Mbereko finished with 22 saves, while Halyk had 20. The Pioneers capitalized on two of their three power-play opportunities and CC was 0-for-4.
 
The Tigers travel to Oxford, Ohio, for an NCHC series against the Miami RedHawks, Nov. 10-11. Each game starts at 5 p.m. (MT).