SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The University of Denver hockey team aims to punch its ticket to the NCAA Frozen Four as the No. 1-seed Pioneers face the No. 3-seed Cornell University Big Red in the Northeast Regional Final on Saturday at 2 p.m. MT at MassMutual Center.
The game in Springfield, Massachusetts, will be nationally televised on ESPN2 and will also be available on ESPN.com and ESPN+ with a subscription.
Denver looks to reach its 19th Frozen Four and its fifth in its last seven NCAA Tournament appearances, having also reached the national semifinals in 2016, 2017, 2019 and 2022; the Pioneers won the national championship in 2017 and 2022.
DU picked up a 2-1 victory in double overtime against No. 4-seed Massachusetts on Thursday afternoon in Springfield.
Tristan Broz scored the game-winner at 12:28 of the second OT, and goaltender
Matt Davis making a career-high 46 saves. Freshman
Boston Buckberger also scored and had the primary assist Broz's second career overtime goal.
Cornell advanced to the Regional Final by scoring three unanswered goals against No. 2-seed Maine in the second Northeast Semifinal on Thursday. Sullivan Mack tallied the final two goals of the game, while goaltender Ian Shane stopped 31-of-32 shots in the win.
This will be a rematch from last year's NCAA Tournament when the Big Red won 2-0 against the Pioneers in the NCAA Regional Semifinals in Manchester, New Hampshire. The two programs will be meeting in the national tournament for the sixth time in their history, with CU owning the series lead at 3-2. Overall, DU is 7-6-0 all-time against Cornell and is 4-3-0 in the last seven matchups since the 1986 Tournament.
The Pioneers are riding a season-long six-game winning streak and are 9-1-0 in their past 10 games. They own a 12-2-1 mark in 15 contests since the start of February.
Denver (29-9-3 overall) is also aiming for its third consecutive 30-win campaign and ninth overall in the program's 75-season history. The Pioneers' 30 wins each of the last two years marked the first time in their record book that they accomplished the feat in back-to-back years.
LAST TIME OUT: Denver advanced to the Regional Final in Springfield, Massachusetts, on Thursday with a 2-1 double-overtime victory against the No. 4-seed Massachusetts.
Tristan Broz scored the game-winner at 12:28 of the second OT and goaltender
Matt Davis made a career-high 46 saves.
Boston Buckberger also scored and added an assist on the game-winning marker.
Connor Caponi, Jack Devine and
Tristan Lemyre added assists.
UMass outshot DU 47-43 overall and had a 13-11 edge in the second OT before Broz's game-winner. Both teams finished 0-for-2 on the power play.
EXTRA, EXTRA TIME: The Pioneers played their longest NCAA Tournament game in program history in their 2-1 double-overtime win versus Massachusetts in the Regional Semifinals on Thursday, and it is believed to be the longest contest in school history.
Tristan Broz tallied the game-winner midway through the second OT, ending the game after 92:28 of playing time and three hours and 58 minutes overall. The outing surpassed DU's previous longest postseason game of 91:14 on March 26, 2011 in a 3-2 double-OT victory versus Western Michigan in the Midwest Regional in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Thursday's game was the sixth-longest overall NCAA Regional game in tournament history and the first multi-overtime game since Minnesota Duluth defeated North Dakota in a five-OT thriller in the 2021 West Regional Semifinals.
Denver is now 4-2 all-time in overtime in the NCAA Tournament and is 5-1-3 in extra time this season, which included a win over St. Cloud State in the NCHC Frozen Faceoff Semifinals on March 22. The Pioneers have had five different players score in OT this season:
Carter King (2:06, Dec. 2 vs. North Dakota),
Massimo Rizzo (1:02, Dec. 9 at Western Michigan),
Aidan Thompson (1:46, Feb. 16 at Minnesota Duluth),
Zeev Buium (6:21, March 22 vs. St. Cloud State),
Tristan Broz (32:28, March 28 vs. Massachusetts).
Thursday's victory was Denver's first overtime game in the NCAA Tournament since
Carter Savoie scored the winner in the 2022 Frozen Faceoff Semifinals vs. Michigan in Boston, Massachusetts.
DAVIS STANDS TALL: Goaltender
Matt Davis earned his 20th win of the season by stopping 46-of-47 shots against UMass in the Regional Semifinals on Thursday, surpassing his previous highs of 39 saves on 41 shots faced earlier this season versus Western Michigan on Feb. 2. It was the first 40-plus save effort by a DU netminder since
Filip Larsson stopped 45 shots on Feb. 1, 2019 versus North Dakota.
Davis is on a six-game winning streak, the longest such stretch of the season by a DU netminder and tying the longest of his career; he won six straight games across two seasons from Feb. 26-Dec. 17, 2022. It is the longest winning streak by a Denver goalie since
Magnus Chrona won seven games in a row from Jan. 27-Feb. 15, 2023.
CONSISTENCY IN THE PIPES: Goalie
Matt Davis has started 23 straight games since returning from injury following the holiday break, going 17-4-2 in those contests (since Jan. 5). It is the longest consecutive games-started stretch by a Pioneer goalie since
Magnus Chrona started 25 outings in a row from Nov. 5, 2021-Feb. 25, 2022.
Davis has posted two career-long shutout streaks over the last five weeks and recorded a new high of 127:19 across three games from the second period on March 9 vs. Colorado College to the third period on Saturday, March 16 vs. Minnesota Duluth. His previous personal best was 105:44 across three contests from Feb. 23-March 1.
The Calgary, Alberta, native went 5-0-1 in his first six starts in January after missing 13 games with a lower-body injury and earned his second career NCHC Goaltender of the Week on Jan. 9 after posting a combined 1.50 goals-against average in a two-game series sweep of Niagara on Jan. 5-6.
Davis also registered a career-best eight-game unbeaten streak (6-0-2) that began prior to the injury on Oct. 21 at Boston College and went until Jan. 20 at Omaha. It was the longest unbeaten stretch of the season by a DU goalie and the longest since Chrona had a nine-game winning streak (Jan. 15-Feb. 11, 2022) and 11-game unbeaten streak (10-0-1, Dec. 31, 2021-Feb. 11, 2022) during the 2021-22 championship campaign.
LAST GAME NOTABLES
- 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.
- Tristan Broz tallied his third game-winning goal of the season and sixth of his career. It was his second career overtime-marker (Dec. 9, 2022 at Minnesota Duluth).
- DU was playing its first day game of the season and improved to 3-0 in neutral-site contests this season.
- Denver scored its fewest goals in a game this season (fourth time) and picked up its first win when tallying twice. It was the first 2-1 game DU played in this year.
- The Pioneers are now 35-31-3 all-time in games in Massachusetts and have a 11-8 mark in postseason outings.
- Denver blocked a season-high 20 shots on goal, with Zeev Buium setting a career high with three blocks.
- Tristan Lemyre recorded his fourth assist of the season, setting a new season high.
- The eight combined penalty minutes were tied for the fewest in a Pioneer contest this season (fourth time).
- Denver went 2-for-2 on the penalty kill and has been perfect with the man disadvantage in seven of the last 10 games.
DENVER VS. CORNELL IN THE NATIONAL TOURNAMENT: Denver and Cornell have played five times previously in the NCAA Tournament, with CU leading those games 3-2 after defeating the Pioneers 2-0 in the Northeast Regional Semifinals last season. The Pioneers defeated the Big Red for the 1969 national championship in Colorado Springs as DU goaltender Gerry Powers outdueled future hall of famer Ken Dryden in a 4-3 victory. Cornell beat DU 7-2 in the 1972 national semifinals. The teams both picked up wins against one another in the two-game quarterfinals in 1986, with the Pioneers advancing to the final four based on goal aggregate (8-7).
HISTORY VS. CORNELL: Denver and Cornell are meeting for the second consecutive national tournament after the Pioneers fell 2-0 in the Northeast Regional Semifinals in Manchester, New Hampshire, last year. DU is 7-6-0 all-time against Cornell and is 4-3 in the last seven meetings. The teams have only played five times since 1986. Denver is 2-1 in neutral-site contests, with DU winning the 1969 national championship in Colorado Springs and CU winning in the 1972 semifinals in Boston. The teams have played five times previously in the national tournament, with the Big Red leading the series at 3-2. Denver is 5-1-0 in home games vs. Cornell and 1-3-0 in contests in Ithaca.
SCOUTING THE BIG RED: Cornell won the ECAC Tournament over St. Lawrence to earn an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament and defeated Maine 3-1 on Thursday in the other Northeast Region Semifinal in Springfield. Maine scored the first goal, but Kyle Penney evened the game before the first intermission. Sullivan Mack tallied twice in the two periods and goaltender Ian Shane made 31 saves. Cornell is on a six-game winning streak and owns a 22-6-6 overall record and was 12-6-4 in ECAC play. Due to being an Ivy and having a late start, the Big Red only played seven non-conference games during the regular season. Gabriel Seger leads Cornell in all three scoring categories with 14 goals, 29 assists and 43 points. Dalton Bancroft is second in each with 12 goals (tied), 19 assists and 31 points. I an Shane has started 33-of-34 games this year in net and owns a 22-4-6 record, 1.68 goals-against average and .924 save percentage. He owns the best GAA among goalies in the NCAA Tournament.
CONNECTIONS: Cornell's Winter Wallace is from Boulder, Colorado, and played with
Aidan Thompson with the Rocky Mountain Roughriders 14U squad in 2016-17 … Wallace attended Shattuck-St. Mary's prep school in Minnesota at the same time as
Shai Buium (2017-2020), with them playing on the same 16U AAA team in 2018-19 …
McKade Webster and
Jack Caruso and CU's Tyler Catalano are from St. Louis, Missouri … Ben Robertson played with
Jared Wright with the USHL Omaha Lancers for part of 2021-22 and was teammates with DU's
Miko Matikka and
Garrett Brown in 2022-23 …
Connor Caponi played with Ondrej Psenicka with the USHL Waterloo Black Hawks in 2019-20 …
Tristan Broz was a teammate of Michael Suda with the USHL Fargo Force in 2020-21 …
Kieran Cebrian and Kyler Kovich were teammates with the USHL Tri-City Storm in 2020-21 …
Boston Buckberger played part of 2022-23 with Marian Mosko with the USHL Lincoln Stars …
Massimo Rizzo (DNP) and Kyle Penney were teammates with the BCHL Chilliwack Chiefs in 2020-21 … CU's Ian Shane (Manhattan Beach) and DU's
Alex Weiermair (Los Angeles),
Shai Buium (San Diego),
Zeev Buium (San Diego) and
Sam Harris are all from Southern California …
Lucas Olvestad (Stockholm) and Gabriel Seger (Uppsala) are both from Sweden.
PREVIOUS MEETING (March 23, 2023): The University of Denver hockey team's season came to an end as the Pioneers lost 2-0 to the Cornell Big Red in the Northeast Regional Semifinals at SNHU Arena in Manchester. Cornell scored twice in the first period to take the lead and held onto it for the remainder of the contest. Both teams finished with 27 shots on goal, with DU having a 21-19 edge in the category in the final two periods of play. Denver senior goaltender
Magnus Chrona made 25 saves and stopped all 19 he faced in the last 40 minutes, including a penalty shot early in the third period. Cornell netminder Ian Shane recorded his fifth shutout of the season. The Big Red struck just 2:49 into the contest as Jack O'Leary tallied on a backhand shot off assists from Max Andreev and Matt Stienburg. CU added another with 8:32 remaining in the opening frame, as O'Leary dug out the puck in a scramble behind the cage and Ben Berard slid it just inside the right post.
NCAA TOURNAMENT EXPERIENCE: Denver had 10 players make their NCAA Tournament debuts in the Regional Semifinals on Thursday: junior
Matt Davis, sophomores
Kent Anderson,
Tristan Lemyre and
Lucas Olvestad, and freshmen
Boston Buckberger,
Zeev Buium,
Kieran Cebrian,
Sam Harris,
Miko Matikka and
Alex Weiermair.
The Pioneers entered the 2024 Championships with 11 student-athletes with past NCAA postseason experience on its roster and had seven players that were on their 2022 team that won the national championship.
Sean Behrens,
Shai Buium,
Jack Devine,
Carter King,
Massimo Rizzo and
McKade Webster all had the most past experience with five NCAA contests, while
Tristan Broz had played in four games (three with Minnesota in 2022).
Connor Caponi,
Rieger Lorenz,
Aidan Thompson and
Jared Wright all made their national tournament debuts last year in the Pioneers' regional semifinal game vs. Cornell.
BALANCED SCORING: The Pioneers have 11 players that have scored 10 or more goals this season and nine skaters that have registered 30 or more points, both by far the most by a program in college hockey in 2023-24. DU also has the most 20-plus point players and is tied with Michigan State for the highest amount of skaters with 10 or more points.
Boston College and Quinnipiac are the next two teams on the list with the most 10-plus goal scorers with seven each, while Michigan is second behind Denver with seven players that have registered 30 or more points. Among NCHC teams, North Dakota is tied for fourth with six players with 10-plus goals while Western Michigan is second in the league with five players with 30-plus points.
KILLER PENALTY KILL: Denver has killed off 88.9 percent of its penalties over the last 10 games dating back to Feb. 25 vs. Miami, going 24-for-27 in that stretch. DU has been perfect in seven of those games, including going 4-for-4 on the PK on three occasions.
STRONG STRETCHES:
NON-CONFERENCE PLAY: Denver is 10-2-1 against non-conference opponents this season after defeating Massachusetts in the Regional Semifinals on March 28. UMass was the ninth different opponent the Pios faced this season after playing 12 non-conference games against eight teams during the regular season (9-2-1).
