LAS VEGAS (AP) — Senior captain Kent Anderson scored from the slot at 12:3 of the second overtime to back up goaltender Johnny Hicks' 49 saves and lift the Denver Pioneers hockey team to a 4-3 victory over the No. 1 Michigan Wolverines on Thursday night in a Frozen Four semifinal and keep alive the Pioneers' hoping of winning their third national title in five years.
The Pioneers (28-11-3, 17-6-1 NCHC), a No. 2 regional seed, play Wisconsin (24-12-2) in Saturday's championship, as they try to extend their NCAA record to 11 titles. Game time is at 3:30 p.m. MT and will be broadcast nationally on ESPN2
Michigan (31-8-1, 16-3-1 Big Ten) had hoped to make its first championship appearance since 2011 and win its first championship since 1998. The Wolverines — who outshot the Pioneers 52-26 — also were trying to tie Denver for most overall championships. DU is in the national title game for the third time in the last five years.
Denver's Clarke Caswell sent the game into overtime with a goal and also had an assist. Kyle Chyzowski and Cale Ashcroft also scored, and Hicks — a freshman — set a personal high in saves.
Hicks, who entered this game leading the nation with a 1.12 goals-against average and .958 save percentage, stayed in the game after taking a nasty hit early in the third period when teammate Eric Jamieson made contact with Michigan's Malcolm Spence on a rush to the net.
Anderson netted his second goal of the season after Kristian Epperson found the defenseman alone in the slot in what was the longest game in program history at 92:35. It was seven seconds longer than the previous record of 92:28 on March 28, 2024 versus Massachusetts in the NCAA Northeast Regional Semifinals in Springfield, Massachusetts.
"He's a battler, he's unfazed — he was our best player tonight," Pioneers coach David Carle said.
Josh Eernisse, Jayden Perron and T.J. Hughes each scored for Michigan, with Hughes' goal giving the Hobey Baker finalist 179 career points, tops among active players. Jack Ivankovic saved 22 shots.
The Wolverines were on the verge of advancing to the final when Perron scored from the right point with 8:58 left in regulation. That goal came on the power play, the nation's top-ranked unit that entered the game by converting 31.6 percent of its chances.
Denver, however, kept alive its season when Caswell redirected a shot from Garrett Brown from the goal line with 2:46 remaining in regulation.
Neither team scored in the first overtime, though Pioneers winger Rieger Lorenz hit the crossbar. Teammate Boston Buckberger later had his left hand badly bloodied when it was stepped on, but he played through it.
POSTGAME NOTES
- Denver and Michigan were meeting in the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time in their history, with the Pioneers improving to 2-4 all-time in such contests.
- DU and UM last met in the 2022 Frozen Four Semifinals in Boston where the Pioneers also won in overtime.
- The Pios improved to 6-3 all-time in double-overtime and 3-1 in NCAA Tournament games that needed a second extra session.
- This is the third straight season that the Pioneers have played an NCAA Tournament game that needed double OT, and the team has played an overtime contest in four of its last five tournaments.
- Rieger Lorenz played in his 168th career game, moving into a tie for second place with Ryan Barrow (2017-22) on the DU's all-time games played list and the most all-time by a four-year player in school history. Ed Cristofoli previously held the mark at 167 contests from 1985-1989.
- Cale Ashcroft scored his third goal of the season and now has four points in his last four games (1g/3a).
- Freshman Kyle Chyzowski tallied in back-to-back games for the third this season (Dec. 5-6, Jan. 24-30).
- Kieran Cebrian (2g/2a) and Sam Harris (2g/2a) are on a three-game point streaks.
GOAL SUMMARY
1st Period
9:29 DU (1-0) – Denver forced a turnover in the Michigan zone and
Kyle Chyzowski buried a one-time snap shot that got through the Michigan goalie and across the goal line.
16:18 UM (1-1) – Josh Eernisse scored from the right circle after a faceoff win by the Wolverines.
17:17 UM (1-2) – TJ Hughes tallied on a rebound as the puck just got past
Johnny Hicks' stretched left pad.
2nd Period
2:30 DU (2-2) –
Cale Ashcroft went top shelf with a wrist shot from the high slot after taking a feed from
Sam Harris.
3rd Period
11:02 UM (2-3) –
PPG, Jayden Perron's wrist shot from the top of the right circle went top shelf.
17:14 DU (3-3) –
Clarke Caswell redirected
Garrett Brown's shot from the right wing wall.
Overtime 1
No Scoring
Overtime 2
12:35 DU (4-3) –
Kent Anderson hit twine with a wrister while all alone in the slot after taking a pass from
Kristian Epperson along the left wing wall.
DenverPioneers.com contributed to this story.
