LAS VEGAS – The University of Denver hockey team aims to add to its national title collection on Saturday afternoon as the Pioneers take on the Wisconsin Badgers in the 2026 NCAA Championship Game at 3:30 p.m. MT at T-Mobile Arena.
 
The game will be nationally televised on ESPN and the national radio broadcast from Westword One can be heard on SiriusXM channel 84. The local radio call in the Denver area is on Denver Sports 104.3 FM The Fan.
 
Denver advanced to its third national title game in the past five seasons with a 4-3 double-overtime victory against No. 1-overall seed Michigan in the NCAA Frozen Four Semifinals on Thursday night. The Pios came back from deficits of 2-1 and 3-2 and punched its ticket to the title contest after Kent Anderson scored at 12:35 of the second OT.
 
It was the longest game in program history at 92:35, as the Pios forced extra time after Clarke Caswell tallied by redirecting Garrett Brown's centering pass with 2:46 remaining in regulation. Kristian Epperson had two assists, including the primary helper on Anderson's first career OT-marker, while Kyle Chyzowski and Cale Ashcroft also tallied
 
Freshman goaltender Johnny Hicks posted career highs by making 49 saves on 52 shots faced and stopped all 21 pucks that came his way after regulation.
 
Denver, which was a No. 2 seed in the West Regional, has won three national championships in the last 10 years by claiming titles in 2017, 2022 and 2024, while Wisconsin is in the title contest for the first time since its last championship in 2006. The Pioneers' 10 overall are the most in NCAA history.
 
The Badgers, the No. 3 seed in the Northeast Regional, defeated North Dakota 2-1 in the first national semifinal on Thursday in the venue just off the Las Vegas Strip. Simon Tassy and Ryan Botterill scored in a matter of 27 seconds of one another midway through the first period and UW held off the Fighting Hawks the rest of the way. Goalie Daniel Hauser made 21 saves, with the only shot getting past him coming in the final minute of play while NoDak had its netminder pulled for an extra attacker on the ice.
 
Denver is 0-3 all-time against Wisconsin in the national tournament and will be facing off for the first time in the NCAA postseason since the Badgers won a 2008 Midwest Regional Semifinal on home ice in Madison. The teams have played in one national championship game in their history, with Wisco winning 4-2 in the 1973 final in Boston.
 
The Pioneers have won each of their last five NCAA championship contests they have been a part of and are 10-3 all-time with the national trophy on the line.
 
NOTABLES

• 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.
• Kent Anderson scored his second career game-winning goal and first career overtime-winner. It was his first goal since Dec. 13 at St. Cloud State.
• Johnny Hicks posted career highs with 49 saves on 52 shots faced, season highs in both categories by a DU goalie and the most since Matt Davis stopped 49 shots on Feb. 8, 2025 at Arizona State.
• 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).
• Ashcroft (12) and Sam Harris (35) each tied career highs in points for a single season.
• Denver played its second double-overtime game of the season after beating Minnesota Duluth by the same 4-3 score in the NCHC Frozen Faceoff Championship on March 21.
• DU earned its 10th comeback victory of the season and third that resulted in an overtime win.
• Kristian Epperson finished with a plus-3 rating and recorded his first career two-assist game. It was his fourth multi-point outing the season.
• James Reeder recorded a personal-best three blocked shots.
• Denver played on Thursday for the first time this season and improved to 7-4-0 on the day of the week under head coach David Carle.

STREAKING

• Clarke Caswell is on a four-game point streak (3g/4a) and has registered multiple points in three of those contests.
• Kieran Cebrian (2g/2a) is on a three-game point streak.
• Sam Harris (2g/2a) is on a three-game point streak.
• Kyle Chyzowski has tallied in back-to-back games for the third this season (Dec. 5-6, Jan. 24-30).

ALL-AMERICAN MAN: Junior defenseman Eric Pohlkamp was named a First-Team All-American (West) on Friday, earning the award for the first time in his career and becoming the program's 57th honoree in its 77-year history.
 
Denver has now had an All-American first-team member in three straight seasons and has had at least one player pick up All-American accolades in each of the past five years (since 2024-25). Zeev Buium and Jack Devine were both named to the first team in 2025.
 
DENVER VS. WISCONSIN IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT: The Pioneers and Badgers are two old conference rivals in the WCHA and are set to meet in the national tournament for just the fourth time in their history.  DU is 0-3 in those matchups, with the last coming in a 6-2 defeat in the 2008 Midwest Regional Semifinals on UW's home ice in Madison.
 
Denver and Wisconsin met in back-to-back Frozen Fours in the early 1970s, with DU falling 5-2 in a third-place game in 1972 and lost 4-2 in the 1973 championship game. Both contests were played in Boston, Mass.
 
HISTORY VS. WISCO: Denver and Wisconsin met last season on Oct. 25-26, 2024 in a non-conference matchup at Magness Arena, with the Pioneers earning wins of 4-2 and 6-1.  That was the first meeting since Jan. 4-5, 2019 in Madison as the squads finally finished up their home-and-home series that was delayed due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.  Denver has a 66-76-13 all-time record against Wisconsin but has won each of the last six meetings, is unbeaten in the last eight (7-0-1).  The Pios are 1-3 all-time in neutral-site contests, with its lone such victory coming in the 2009 WCHA Final Five.  Denver sports a 32-40-6 mark at home against the Badgers and 33-33-7 on the road.  Since the start of the 2008-09 season, Denver is 16-5-4 in the past 25 outings vs. Wisconsin.  The two schools were conference members in the WCHA from 1969 to 2013, where the Pioneers owned a 53-62-11 mark in league games.
 
PREVIOUS MEETING (OCT. 26, 2024): The No. 1 Denver Pioneers hockey team scored six unanswered goals on Saturday night to defeat the No. 20 Wisconsin Badgers 6-1 at Magness Arena in the series finale in Denver.  DU sweeps the weekend set against its former WCHA foe and improved to 6-0-0 to start the season. Senior Jack Devine had three points on a goal and two assist while juniors Samu Salminen and Aidan Thompson and freshman Jake Fisher all tallied and added a helper for multi-point contests each. Graduate student and Wisconsin native Connor Caponi and sophomore Sam Harris also scored for the Pioneers.  Goaltender Matt Davis made 25 saves, including stopping the final 18 shots he faced after Quinn Finley tallied on a power play at 7:41 of the first period to open the game's scoring for the Badgers (1-5-0, 0-2-0 Big Ten).  It was all Pioneers after that.  DU responded 100 seconds after Finley tallied with Devine's first goal of the season, and Caponi scored nearly three minutes later to give the squad a lead it didn't relinquish.
 
CONNECTIONS: Kristian Epperson is from Mequon, Wisconsin … Kent Anderson (2021-22) played junior hockey in the state of Wisconsin with the USHL Green Bay Gamblers … Jake Fisher and Logan Hensler are both from Woodbury, Minnesota … Fisher won a USHL Clark Cup Championship with Gavin Morrisseey and Anton Castro on USHL Fargo Force in 2023-24 … Tory Pitner was teammates with Ryan Botterill, Luke Osburn Adam Pietila with the USHL Youngstown Phantoms in 2023-24 … Kristian Epperson and Brendan McMorrow were teammates for two seasons at the U.S. National Team Development Program with Logan Hensler from 2022-24 and was at the NTDP as the same time as Zach Shultz in 2022-23 … Brendan McMorrow played with Grady Deering with the USHL Waterloo Black Hawks last season … Sam Harris played with Jack Phelan at the USHL Sioux Falls Stampede in 2022-23 … Quentin Miller and Simon Tassy are both from Montreal, Quebec … Denver's James Reeder (Glenview) and Wisconsin's Jack Phelan (Hinsdale) and Jack Horbach (Naperville) are all from the Chicago area … Denver defeated Wisconsin head coach Mike Hastings in the 2022 NCAA Championship Game when he was in the same position at Minnesota State … Aidan Dubinsky used to play in the NCHC with Minnesota Duluth.
 
SCOUTING THE BADGERS: Wisconsin advanced to its first national championship game since winning the title in 2006 with a 2-1 win against No. 2-overall seed North Dakota in the Frozen Four on Thursday in Las Vegas.  Simon Tassy and Ryan Botterill scored in a matter of 27 seconds of one another midway through the first period and UW held off the Fighting Hawks the rest of the way.  The Badgers beat Dartmouth 5-1 in the Regional Semifinals in Worcester, Mass., on March 26 before scoring two late goals in the third period and Ben Dexheimer tallying the winner 24 seconds into overtime to defeat Big Ten-rival Michigan State 4-3 in the Regional Final on March 28.  The Badgers have a 24-12-2 overall record this season and went 14-10-0 in league play.  Like Denver, UW went on a losing streak in the middle of the season as it lost six in a row from Jan. 15-31.  Gavin Morrisseey leads the team with 36 points and 27 assists, while Quinn Finley is the top goal scorer with 17 tallies and is second with 33 points (17g/16a).  Christian Fitzgerald is third with 31 points and second with 16 goals.  Freshman goaltender Daniel Hauser has started 29 games and owns a 21-7-2 record, 2.50 goals-against average, .900 save percentage and three shutouts.  Hauser made 21 saves in the Frozen Four vs. UND, with the only puck getting past him coming in the final minute while the Hawks had an extra attacker on the ice.