A 2026 of perfection so far.

Completing nearly two unbeaten months, the 17^th-ranked Grand Canyon University D2 Men's Hockey team went extras to complete a sweep of its three-game weekend homestand at AZ Ice Arcadia, knocking off the University of Denver, 3-2, in overtime at AZ Ice Arcadia Saturday night. It was the second straight night the Lopes held off a Colorado-based team by a single goal, topping Colorado State University, 5-4, Friday after dispatching 7^th-ranked University of Colorado, 7-2, Thursday. The sweep extended the Lopes' winning streak to team-record 11 games as the regular season ends.

Thursday: GCU 7, Colorado 2

The Lopes knew they'd find out just how meaningful their winning streak was when they kicked off the weekend against the 7^th-ranked Buffaloes. That question took all of 20 minutes to answer, since Luke Busher, Brayden Bibby and Brayden Willis put the Buffs in a 3-0 hole after one period. Busher had a hand in all three goals, which continued when – after Braden Olson slapped the Lopes' 4^th goal through two minutes into the 2^nd period - Busher helped set up Nicholas Bradley four minutes later to extend the lead to 5-0. Olson struck again in the first two minutes of the final frame, and Owen Walsh finished off the scoring with three minutes left. Gannon Kligora joined Busher in the three-assist column, while Olson added an assist to his pair of scores. Lopes' goalie Aidan Patterson swatted away 39 CU shots in the win.

Friday: GCU 5, Colorado State 4

The rest of the weekend didn't resemble the CU game at all, since no team owned more than a one-goal lead in either of the last two games. Against CSU, Willis and Olson helped the Lopes overcome a 1-0 lead with scores in the game's first 24 minutes. The Rams' Max Neumayr tied the game at 2-2 with eight minutes left in the 2^nd, then Kligora broke the tie two minutes later on assists from Bibby and Busher. The 3^rd period was the same pattern of CSU score, then GCU answer, with Kligora's 2^nd goal of the night giving the Lopes the lead at the midpoint, then after the Rams answered two minutes later, Bradley set up Ethan Poole with the gamewinner with 5:52 left. GCU goalie Quinn Klaiber refused to let the lead evaporate this time, finishing the night with 32 saves.

Saturday: GCU 3, Denver 2 (F/OT)

The Pioneers made things much harder for the Lopes' offense, but DU's offense only managed 22 shots on goal in the 62 minutes-plus, which ultimately prevented them from owning a lead in the game. The Lopes took nearly an entire period to get on the board when Walsh did the honors with 1:10 left in the 1^st. Denver's 7^th shot of the night tied the score just 43 seconds into the 2^nd period, but Willis quickly turned the momentum around with a Lopes' goal 90 seconds later. The score remained 2-1 until the final minute of regulation when DU's Kefir Changwalker found an opening past Lopes' goalie Kyle Northrup to send it to overtime. The Lopes quickly regrouped, and Dalton Mayes gave both Busher and Walsh another assist each with the sudden-death gamewinner 2:07 into the extra stanza.

The Cube in Santa Clarita, California is the next venue on the schedule as the Lopes will head to the WCHC Division 2 Playoffs this weekend as the No. 5 seed. Play in the seven-team tournament begins this Friday night, February 6 as the Lopes face intrastate rival (and 4^th-seeded) Northern Arizona University at 9:30PM (Arizona time), with the winner advancing to Saturday's semifinal round. The tournament will crown its champion on Sunday.