We Speak Sports

The Defending Champions Come Home: Denver Hosts Lindenwood at Magness Arena

Published

2 days ago

November 5, 2026

Photo: @DU_Hockey

There is a banner in the Magness Arena rafters that was not there a year ago, and it is the eleventh one. The Denver Pioneers, college hockey’s defending national champions, bring Lindenwood to their building for two nights this weekend, and the rest of the sport is still trying to figure out how to slow them down.

Denver’s 2026 national title was the program’s eleventh, the most in college hockey history, and the third in five years under head coach David Carle. The Pioneers opened this season ranked first in both national preseason polls and have done nothing to embarrass the ranking. They swept Omaha at Magness Arena on Halloween weekend to open NCHC play and arrive at this series 5-2-1 overall and unbeaten in the conference.

The Lindenwood series opens a run of four straight home games, with St. Thomas following next weekend. Friday’s opener is also a first: this is the Lions’ first trip to Denver, and Lindenwood, one of the newer programs in Division I hockey, gets the full Magness test against a roster built to repeat.

Friday’s puck drop is set for 7:00 PM Mountain and Saturday’s finale for 6:00 PM. Denver has made its small building one of the hardest road stops in the country, and a November nonconference series is where a championship team sharpens the habits it will need when the NCHC grind tightens in January.

No. 22 New Mexico Wins First Game as a Ranked Team, Routs Nevada 31-3

Toa Fa’avae led two first-quarter touchdown drives, Scottre Humphrey ran for 107 yards and two scores, and No. 22 New Mexico won the first game in the AP poll in school history, beating Nevada 31-3.

Published

6 hours ago

November 7, 2026

We Speak Media

Nevada defenders line up against No. 22 New Mexico during the Lobos' 31-3 win Friday night at Mackay Stadium in Reno. (Nevada Athletics)

Toa Fa’avae led two first-quarter touchdown drives and No. 22 New Mexico won the first game it has ever played as an AP Top 25 team, beating Nevada 31-3 on Friday night at Mackay Stadium.

The Lobos (8-1, 5-0 Mountain West), who entered the AP poll for the first time in program history this week, scored on their opening possession when Scottre Humphrey capped the drive with a 2-yard touchdown run. Kiefer Sibley added a 31-yard touchdown run in the first quarter for a 14-0 lead, and New Mexico was never threatened. Nevada’s only points came on Jacob Fernandez’s 32-yard field goal in the final minute of the first half.

Humphrey finished with 17 carries for 107 yards and two touchdowns, adding a 1-yard score in the third quarter after Brett Karhu sacked Nevada quarterback AJ Bianco, forced a fumble and Darren Agu recovered at the Nevada 5. Fa’avae completed 14 of 20 passes for 150 yards and a touchdown and ran for 34 yards, including a 25-yard touchdown pass to tight end Cade Keith early in the fourth quarter. Nick Romero’s 37-yard field goal closed the scoring.

New Mexico’s defense, the nation’s top scoring unit, held Nevada (3-6, 2-3) to minus-9 rushing yards and 97 total yards, forced 10 punts and sacked Bianco four times. The Lobos held the ball for 38 minutes, 36 seconds and rushed for 213 yards as a team. It was also New Mexico’s first win in Reno in the series.

Bianco completed 14 of 31 passes for 106 yards for Nevada. New Mexico remains alone in first place in the Mountain West and hosts UNLV on Nov. 14, when Nevada plays at Northern Illinois.

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