LOVELAND, Colo. – The No. 1-seed University of Denver hockey team advanced to the NCAA West Regional Final with a 3-2 victory over the No. 4 UMass Lowell River Hawks on Thursday night at the Budweiser Events Center.
 
The Pioneers will face the No. 2-seed Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs on Saturday at 2 p.m. MT, with the winner earning a berth into the Frozen Four in Boston.
 
Senior Cameron Wright scored the go-ahead goal with 2:57 remaining on a mid-air redirection off a feed from freshman Carter Mazur to break a 2-2 tie. Wright's 21st marker of the season came 3:18 after Connor Sodergren scored for UMass Lowell to knot the game.
 
Sophomore Carter Savoie and senior Brett Stapley also tallied for Denver, and goaltender Magnus Chrona stopped 16-of-18 shots he faced.
 
Lucas Condotta gave the River Hawks a 1-0 lead midway through the first period, but the teams went into the first intermission squared up at 1-1 as Stapley deflected Justin Lee's outside shot with 1:24 left in the period.
 
The Pioneers took their first lead of the game midway through the third period during a 4-on-4, as Savoie scored from the right circle on a rush up the ice. The marker came during a key part of the game as UML gained a prolonged power play after a major penalty was called on Denver, but the Pios only allowed two shots and successfully killed it off.
 
DU finished 4-for-4 on the PK, while Lowell also didn't allow a special teams goal.
 
Minnesota Duluth won 3-0 over Michigan Tech in the first semifinal on Thursday with Kobe Roth scoring twice and goaltender Ryan Fanti posting his third straight shutout.
 
The Pioneers met the Bulldogs less than a week ago in the NCHC Frozen Faceoff semifinals in St. Paul, Minnesota, with UMD winning 2-0.
 
POSTGAME NOTES

• Denver had 15 players make their NCAA Tournament debut, as only Ryan Barrow, Cole Guttman, Kyle Mayhew, Brett Stapley and Cameron Wright had previously skated in the national tournament.
• The Pioneers were playing their first game on a Thursday since beating Colorado College 5-1 on Feb. 25, 2021.
• Ryan Barrow played in his 165th career game, taking sole possession of second-place all-time in program history.
• Denver was playing its first national tournament game in Colorado since 2004 and improved to 9-2 all-time in such games in its home state.
• The Pioneers are 2-3-0 vs. Minnesota Duluth this season, falling 2-0 in the previous meeting last Friday

 
GOAL SUMMARY
1st Period
9:42 UML (0-1) – Lucas Condotta scored from near the crease after taking a pass from below the goal line.
18:36 DU (1-1) – Brett Stapley redirected Justin Lee's shot into the net.
 
2nd Period
No Scoring
 
3rd Period
9:26 DU (2-1) – During a 3-on-2 rush, Carter Savoie hit the far-corner twine from the right circle.
14:21 UML (2-2) – Connor Sodergren tallied in front.
17:03 DU (3-2) – Cameron Wright redirected Carter Mazur's centering pass while the puck was in mid-air.
 
TICKETS: NCAA Regional tickets are available for the Loveland Regional by clicking here.

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