ST. PAUL, Minn. - Senior captain Kyle Ostrow (Calgary, Alberta) scored twice and Sam Brittain (Calgary, Alberta) tied a career-high with 36 saves as No. 5 Denver beat Bemidji State 6-2 in the semifinals of the 2011 Red Baron WCHA Final Five this afternoon at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn. DU will play North Dakota in the Final Five championship game Saturday night at 6:07 p.m. MT.

Drew Shore (Denver), Nick Shore (Denver), Jarrod Mermis (Alton, Ill.) and Luke Salazar (Thornton, Colo.) also scored as the Pioneers improve to 24-10-4. Jordan George and Radoslav Illo scored and Dan Bakala had 26 saves in the loss for Bemidji State (15-18-5).

"We are certainly pleased with today's outcome and chance to play for the championship tomorrow night," DU head coach George Gwozdecky said. "I thought our penalty kill to start the third period gave us the momentum we needed to get the win. Sam was also really good in net with 36 saves."

Ostrow staked DU to a 1-0 lead on power-play goal from Jason Zucker (Las Vegas) and David Makowski at 6:15 of the first period. George answered for Bemidji State with a power-play goal from Brad Hunt at 9:31. Illo gave the Beavers their last lead at 2-1 with a goal at 18:55. Bemidji State outshot Denver, 18-10, in the period. 

 

Drew Shore tied the score at 2-2 with a big wrist shot on the power play at 4:15 of the second period. John Ryder (Colorado Springs, Colo.) earned the single assist with a nice play in the neutral zone. Bemidji State held a 28-17 shot advantage after two periods.

The Pioneers killed off a 5-on-3 Bemidji State advantage to start the third period and put the game away with consecutive goals from Nick Shore, Mermis, Salazar and Ostrow (empty-net).

Anthony Maiani (Shelby Township, Mich.) added two assists as 13 Pioneers registered points in the win.

Bemidji State won the shot battle, 38-32, but DU went 2-for-3 on the power play. Bemidji State went 1-for-5 with the man-advantage.

Notes: Denver leads the league with 15 WCHA playoff titles. The Pioneers are 8-0 all-time against Bemidji State. Denver is 8-4 all-time at the Xcel Energy Center, including playoff titles in 2002, 2005 and 2008. DU scored first for the fourth time its last 14 games.