SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Junior goaltender Matt Davis made a career-high 46 saves and classmate Tristan Broz scored the game-winning goal in the second overtime on Thursday night to lift the No. 1-seed Denver Pioneers hockey team to a 2-1 victory against the No. 4-seed Massachusetts Minutemen at MassMutual Center in the NCAA Regional Semifinals
 
Broz advanced the Pioneers to the Regional Final on Saturday with a shot from the high slot while freshman Sam Harris was providing traffic in front of UMass goaltender Michael Hrabel at 12:28 of the second OT. Denver will play Cornell for a berth into the Frozen Four after the Big Red defeated the Maine Black Bears 3-1 in the other semifinal on Thursday.
 
"Really proud of our team, it was a hell of a battle," said Denver Richard and Kitzia Goodman Hockey Head Coach David Carle. "Obviously it could have gone either way throughout the game and overtime, there obviously wasn't a lot of ice out there. Just really proud of our team. That's a game in the first half (of the season) we haven't been forced to play in a lot of. We weren't comfortable in a game like that. When we talk about growth of our team, I think it's playing in hockey games like that. We've had to do that more in the second half against teams in our league, and I think that prepared us. We were comfortable in that game. Proud of our group, and we're happy to be staying in Springfield."
 
The 92:28 game is the longest NCAA Tournament game in Denver's record book, surpassing the program's previous long of 91:14 in a 3-2 double-OT victory versus Western Michigan on March 26, 2011 in the Midwest Regional in Green Bay, Wisconsin. It is the sixth-longest NCAA Regional game in tournament history.
 
The Pioneers (29-9-3, 15-7-2) improved to 4-2 all-time in overtime in the NCAA Tournament and are 5-1-3 in extra time this season. DU also won in overtime in the NCHC Frozen Faceoff Semifinals last Friday versus St. Cloud State at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota—the site of this year's NCAA Frozen Four on March 11-13.
 
Davis' previous career bests came earlier this year on Feb. 2, 2024 against Western Michigan when he made 39 saves on 41 shots. He faced just five shots in the first period on Thursday and stopped 13-of-14 pucks in the second frame before denying the final 28 shots in the last two-plus periods, including making 13 saves in the second overtime.
 
The only puck to get past the keeper from Calgary, Alberta, was Liam Gorman's backhand shot during a scramble around the net with 7:18 left in the second period.
 
Freshman Boston Buckberger began the scoring for Denver with an outside shot of his own at 5:12 of the second stanza and added an assist on Broz's game winner. Junior Jack Devine also had an assist on Broz's goal, while sophomore Tristan Lemyre and senior Connor Caponi had helpers on Buckberger's tally.
 
For Broz, it is his second career overtime goal as he scored his first extra-time winner on Dec. 9, 2022 at Minnesota Duluth. He is the fifth different Pioneer to tally in OT this season.
 
UMass (20-14-3, 12-10-2 HEA) finished with a 47-43 edge in shots on goal, as Hrabel made 41 saves.
 
Both teams went 0-for-2 on the power play, with DU having the first two man advantages of the night before UMass had the extra man late in the third period and in the first overtime. Denver has been perfect on the penalty kill in seven of the  last 10 games.
 
Denver's victory extended its winning streak to a season-long six games dating back to March 9 versus Colorado College. The Pioneers are now 12-2-1 in their last 15 outings since the start of February.
 
UP NEXT: The Pioneers will play the winner the Cornell Big Red on Saturday at 2 p.m. MT at MassMutual Center in Springfield. The game will be nationally televised on ESPN2.
 
 
POSTGAME NOTES

• Denver improved to 6-3-0 all-time vs. UMass, as the programs have played each other in four of the last five seasons.
• The Pioneers are now 1-1 all-time against the Minutemen in the NCAA Tournament, with the teams last meeting in the 2019 Frozen Four Semifinals in Buffalo, New York.
• Denver had 10 players make their NCAA Tournament debuts: Sam Harris, Miko Matikka, Kieran Cebrian, Tristan Lemyre, Alex Weiermair, Zeev Buium, Boston Buckberger, Lucas Olvestad, Kent Anderson and Matt Davis.
• DU is now 5-1-3 in overtime games this season and improved to 4-2 all-time in OT in the NCAA Tournament. It was Denver's first overtime game in the NCAA Tournament since Carter Savoie scored the winner in the 2022 Frozen Faceoff Semifinals versus Michigan.
• Tristan Broz tallied his third game-winning goal of the season and sixth of his career. It was his second career overtime-marker.
• Matt Davis had the first 40-plus save performance by a Denver goaltender since Filip Larsson stopped 45 shots on Feb. 1, 2019 versus North Dakota.
• Matt Davis is on a six-game winning streak, matching a personal high and it is the longest in a single campaign his college career.
• DU was playing its first day game of the season and improved to 3-0 in neutral-site contests.
• The Pioneers are now 35-31-3 all-time in games in Massachusetts and have a 11-8 mark in postseason outings.

 
GOAL SUMMARY
1st Period
No Scoring
 
2nd Period
5:02 DU (1-0) – Boston Buckberger's shot from the high slot got through traffic and hit twine.
12:58 UMass (1-1) – Liam Gorman backhanded the puck in during a scramble around the crease.
 
3rd Period
No Scoring
 
Overtime 1
No Scoring
 
Overtime 2
12:28 DU (2-1) – Tristan Broz's outside wrist shot went into the back of the net while Sam Harris was stationed in front of the crease as a screen.
 

QUOTABLES
Richard and Kitzia Goodman Hockey Head Coach David Carle
On the team developing during the season: "I think when you get to playoff hockey, there becomes non-negotiables within the game. You have to play the right way in your own end, your reload, how you manage pucks. Just a lot of growth and maturity in those areas. We talked a lot about it; it's easy to score in October and November, it's a lot harder to do it in January and February, everybody gets better defensively, and I think our team answered the bell to get better defensively. We knew it was going to be a work in progress—we brought in 11 freshmen, we didn't bring in one transfer this year, we knew we had a real-high ceiling if we could stick together and grow. That's what our leadership group has done. They've done an incredible job of keeping the group together and holding them accountable, and that is where a lot of the growth is."
 
On overtime payback vs. UMass: "I always prefer winning to losing."
 
On the physicality of the game: "It was our first 2-1 game either way the whole year. We knew we had to face a game like this. We had to do it in '22, playing (UMass) Lowell and (Minnesota) Duluth in the Loveland Regional. If you get to this time of the year, everyone is a great team. Inside ice is hard to come by, goals are hard to come by, and I thought both teams pushed the limit tonight. Obviously the game could have gone either way. They had looks, (goaltender) Matt (Davis) was excellent, made some real big saves for us. It was a great battle. [UMass head coach Greg] Carvel and his staff did a great job. They didn't perform like they wanted to last weekend at TD Garden, and it didn't even look like the same team that we watched on film. It's a credit to them. I thought they made life hard on us all night. I would like to say we did the same to them, and it came down to a one-shot game. It was a heck of a battle."
 
Junior Goaltender Matt Davis
On a possible injury in overtime: "I'm all good. Just some cramps—long game, humid out here. I'm all good."
 
On the goaltending duel with Michael Hrabel: "He played a heck of a hockey game, and it was fun. He is a heck of a competitor, and it was fun to play against him."
 
Junior Forward Tristan Broz
On UMass' hard style of play: "Credit to them. They played really hard. It was a really good battle. Their season was on the line. So was ours. That's a heck of a hockey game and credit to the guy over here (Matt Davis), 40-something saves. Just all of the guys battled really hard."
 
On the message in the room during overtime: "I think it goes back to last April when we got eliminated early. It's been a long journey getting back to this tournament. I think it was just a testament to the culture here at Denver. We stuck together. We really haven't been in a game like that, 2-1, low-scoring game. We stuck together and there's no real panic with our group. It's a testament to all of the guys in the locker room."