ST. PAUL, Minn. – The No. 6-ranked University of Denver hockey team secured its spot in the NCHC Frozen Faceoff Championship Game with a 4-2 victory against the No. 11 Arizona State Sun Devils in the conference semifinals on Friday afternoon at Xcel Energy Center.
 
"Great season for ASU. I want to start by saying how much respect we have for them as a program and their staff," said Denver Richard and Kitzia Goodman Hockey Head Coach David Carle. "I think we were one of the first programs to play them when they went independent, and they have been a regular on our schedule since they became Division-I. The job that they have done to build their program; they had a great regular season, a great regular season against us, and for that I'm proud of our guys for flipping the script. Being a little tighter defensively then maybe we were in the four-game series during the regular season and finding a way to get the victory.
 
"Just really proud of our guys. Discipline was good, special teams was good, and the margins are tight at this time of year. The game could have gone either way, but we found a way to make one more play than they did and proud of our guys for that."
 
The No. 3-seed Pioneers (29-10-1, 15-7-1 NCHC) will play No. 1-seed Western Michigan in the NCHC title game on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. MT after the Broncos beat No. 5 North Dakota 4-2 on Friday night. The game will be nationally televised on CBS Sports Network.
 
Junior forward Aidan Thompson scored the go-ahead goal that broke a 2-2 tie at 10:08 of the third period on a 2-on-1 rush with senior forward Carter King. Fellow linemate Jack Devine created the play by forcing a turnover at DU's blue line before sending a stretch pass through the neutral zone to generate the odd-man chance.
 
"We kind of had a similar situation earlier that got picked-off," Thompson said. "So the second time around, Devo made a great pass to Kinger and then Kinger a great pass to me. All I had to do was finish it off, so credit to those two guys. I think we worked hard all game and could have had a few more, but that was the one that went in and it was big."
 
Thompson also added an assist in the contest, while King and Devine each finished with two helpers for multi-point evenings as well.
 
Sophomores Boston Buckberger and Sam Harris tallied in the first period for the Pioneers, and graduate student forward Connor Caponi sealed the victory with an empty-net marker with 63 second left to play. Junior Jared Wright and sophomore Kieran Cebrian also contributed an assist apiece.
 
Denver goaltender Matt Davis made 27 saves, including stopping all 12 shots in the first period and nine in the third period.
 
It took just 89 seconds for DU to get on the scoreboard, with Buckberger's shot from the point landing in the back of the net after getting through traffic and going off the crossbar. It was the fastest goal to begin a game this season for the Pioneers.
 
Denver added a second tally before the end of the frame as Harris backhanded in a rebound during a man advantage with 2:31 left in the opening period. Both teams went 1-for-2 on the power play.
 
ASU (21-14-2, 14-9-1 NCHC) responded with a pair of goals in the second stanza, as Ryan Kirwan tallied at 7:52 and Artem Shlaine scored unassisted with 31 seconds remaining before the intermission.
 
The Sun Devils outshot the Pioneers 9-8 in the third period, but DU was the only team to connect on their chances in the final stanza with Thompson's 19th goal of the year coming on a one-timer and Caponi's open-net marker in the closing seconds.
 
Denver finished with a 32-29 edge in shots on goal, as Arizona State goaltender Luke Pavicich finished with 28 saves.
 
Arizona State was the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament after going 14-9-1 in league play during its inaugural season in the NCHC.
 
UP NEXT: The Pioneers will play for the NCHC Frozen Faceoff Championship for the second straight season with a nationally-televised game on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. MT against Western Michigan.
 
 
POSTGAME NOTES

• Denver is now 4-7 all-time in the semifinal round of the NCHC Tournament and has a 31-10-1 overall record in the league playoffs. The Pioneers have won each of their last two semifinal games.
• DU is now 11-5-1 all-time vs. ASU and went 2-3-0 against the Sun Devils in five meetings during the year.
• Denver and Arizona State were meeting at a neutral site for the first time in the all-time series. The squads played once prior in an NHL venue as the teams faced off on Dec. 7, 2019 at Gila River Arena, the then-home of the Arizona Coyotes.
• Carter King stretched his point streak to four games (2g/4a).
• Boston Buckberger (2g/2a) and Aidan Thompson (2g/3a) have points in three straight games.
• Aidan Thompson tallied his third game-winning goal of the season and sixth of his career. He scored the overtime-winner at ASU on Feb. 7.
• Thompson finished with five goals and seven points (5g/2a) in the five games against Arizona State in 2024-25.
• Buckberger's goal at 1:29 of the first period was the fastest goal to begin a game this season for the team, surpassing the previous quickest of 2:20 set by Samu Salminen last Sunday in Game 3 of the NCHC Quarterfinals against Colorado College.
• Denver is the only NCHC squad to reach the semifinals of all 11 Frozen Faceoff Tournaments.
• The Pioneers are 3-0 all-time in Frozen Faceoff Championship Games and are looking to be the first NCHC squad to repeat as conference tournament champions.

 
GOAL SUMMARY
1st Period
1:29 DU (1-0) – Boston Buckberger scored on a wrist shot from the left point following a faceoff win in the offensive zone.
17:29  DU (2-0) – PPG, Sam Harris tallied on a backhander after taking a rebound from one-time slapper by Aidan Thompson.
 
2nd Period
7:52 ASU (2-1) – PPG, Ryan Kirwan wristed a loose puck into the twine at the top of the crease.
19:28 ASU (2-2) – Artem Shlaine forced a turnover in DU's zone and then scored on a backhander.
 
3rd Period
10:08 DU (3-2) – Jack Devine sprung a 2-on-1 rush and Aidan Thompson buried a one-timer off a feed from Carter King.
18:57 DU (4-2) – ENG, Connor Caponi took a pass from Jack Devine and fired it into the open net.
 
 
QUOTABLES
Richard and Kitzia Goodman Hockey Head Coach David Carle
On playing the first semifinal game: "I don't put a lot of weight into it. It is what it is; you're going to have to do it in the NCAA Tournament, potentially even earlier, like there are noon start times in that. If you are looking at minor things, I think it helps wind out the bodies a little bit after the game. Hopefully we get to bed a reasonable hour, get your recovery done and your mind settles, to hopefully get to bed and get a better night's sleep."
 
On the top line scoring after ASU tied the game: "It's big. There are times when you need your best players to step up and make big-time plays. They (ASU) obviously did on the power play as well. In a 2-2 game where you had the lead 2-0, felt like there was maybe some chances to extend the lead in the second. We've been in games with them where we've had the lead, one-goal, two-goal, three-goal, and they've found ways to come back. So we know that they are never out of it. So to see them (Aidan Thompson and the top line) make the play, make a finishing play, obviously it was huge for the bench. It gives everyone a lot of confidence, and I really liked how we played from there on out. I think they had a good push to start the third period, and once we weathered that, I thought it was a pretty even third, and we didn't give them a whole heck of a lot."
 
Junior Forward Aidan Thompson
On his line's success: "I think we just capitalized on their mistakes going into the O-zone. They are a great team, and they make a lot of plays off the rush, so that was a big emphasis on coming back hard on the D-zone. I think we focused on that and then capitalized on turning those pucks up quick and scoring off the rush like Kinger (Carter King) and I did at the end."
 
On the team's responding after ASU tied the game: "I think we don't focus on the score. I think just every shift we try and go out there and dominate. That is a great team (ASU), very fast, very skilled forwards, and their D was all over us all game. They did a great job. We were pushing all game, and we finally broke through at the end. It took a while, but eventually we got there."
 
Sophomore Defenseman Boston Buckberger
On the team's strong start: "I think we wanted to get off on a hot start, knowing how run-and-gun they are and their ability to produce offense and get goals. I think it was important for us to jump in front and get the first one and then not looking back and staying consistent with our game from there."
 
On the team's mindset going into the third period: "I think we just had to stay consistent with our game. I know they scored a couple different ones, weird ones, and I think our forwards were playing well and moving pucks north. I think if we just stuck with it and kept with what we wanted to do, playing north and playing in their end, obviously, for the for the rest of the third, we knew we would get some bounces and chances. Like Aidan's goal, we knew that off the rush that we could produce well just like them. We were fortunate enough to get that bounce and Aidan scored."