Pioniers will continue to NCHC Frozen Faceoff semi -finals

Denver The No. 6 Ranked University of Denver Hockey team booked its ticket to St. Paul and the NCHC Frozen Faceoff Semifinals by beating the Colorado College Tigers 9-2 in Game 3 of the quarterfinals of the conference on Sunday evening in Magness Arena.

Du (28-10-1, 15-8-1 ACHC) returned and won the best-of-three series 2-1 against no. 6-Seed CC (18-18-1, 11-12-1 ACHC). The pioneers, who are the third seed, lost 3-1 in game 1 on Friday, but responded by winning the next two games, including achieving a 6-3 victory on Saturday.

Denver is the only program in the NCHC history to reach the semi-final round in every 11-kept tournaments. The Pioneers are the title defense champions after winning their third NCHC Tour title last year.

Second -year Cale Ashcroftt Registered a career high with three points all assists and senior Jack Devine Also joined his teammate with a trio helpers. In general, eight players left the game with multiple points and 15 skaters were on the score sheet at least once.

Senior goalkeeper Matt Davis Came up in his last game in Magness Arena and denied 20-of-22 shots that CC tried to pass him by. Senior Carter King Registered two goals on the Power Play and the other shorted to honor his last night on the PIOS home ice cream.

Denver has a main section of 3-of-7 Power-Plays during the Sunday evening match, while the Penalty-Kill team did not allow any goal on one of the four Power-Play opportunities of CC.

Junior Vooruit Rieger Lorenz And Samu Salminen and second -year defenders Garrett Brown And Boston Buckberger Each had one goal and one assistant in the game. Center Kieran Cebrian and back protectors Anderson knows And Eric Pohlkamp Also added.

Du scored three goals in the first period, with Salminen started with the du Run at 2:20. Almost 15 minutes later, Brown added to the lead of the PIOS during a delayed penalty. Ty Gallagher from CC scored the first of his two goals with less than two minutes in the first to make it a 2-1 match during the first break.

The second period was all Denver when Anderson took his first goal of the season and Cebrian got the score 4-1 at 3:58 PM. Two minutes after Cebrian's count, King registered his sixth career short-handed marker to give Du a 5-1 advantage during the second break.

The third was kicked off by a power play count for only 49 seconds in the period of King. Gallagher registered a short -handed goal two minutes later, but the pio's then responded Buckberger, Pohlkamp and Lorenz all scored in a seven -minute wingspan to win the victory.

Second -year keeper Freddie Halyk In the third period entered the Du Crease at 8:46 and made three saves to complete the PIOS victory.

Tigers' goalkeeper Carsen Musser saved 19 shots during Sunday's matchup before he was replaced by 9:46 left in regulations by Henry Wilder, who saved all five shots. CC goalkeeper Kaiden Mbereko did not play after he was injured in Game 2 on Saturday evening.

Denver finished with a 33-25 edge in Schoten on Doel.

Next: The Pioneers play the state of Arizona in the NCHC Frozen Faceoff semi -finals on Friday in Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. The other semi -final contains West -Michigan versus the North Dakota. The champion match is set for Saturday night.

Postgame notes

• On Sunday, the 348th of all time marked between Denver and Colorado College, who surpassed the Michigan-Michigan State Series (347 games) for the most played rivalry in the history of the university hockey.
• Denver is now 21-3 of all time in NCHC Opening Round competitions and has a 30-10-1 record record in the NCHC tournament.
• The Pioneers improved until 18-13 of all time against Colorado College in Conference Tournament outputs and is 8-3 in competitions during the NCHC Frozen Faceoff tournament.
• Samu Salminen's Goal on 2:20 of the first period meant the fastest goal to start a match this season. This year, Salminen also had the previous fastest at 2:57 of the first last weekend on March 7 versus CC.
• Garrett Brown Scored during a delayed fine for Du's fourth goaled goal of the season and second during a delayed violation.
• Brown ended with two points (1G/1A) for his first career Multi-Point Game.
• Cale Ashcroftt Registered three assists for a career high in both assists and points. It was his second career multi-point outing.
• Carter King Scored his sixth career short-handed goal, bound for the third most in program history and the most by a pioneer since Ryan Dingle also had six from 2004-2007.
• It was the third short -handed goal of Denver of the season, with the previous two by Samu Salminen vs. Colorado College on December 13.
• Anderson knows scored his first goal of the season and the fourth of his career.
• Denver and Colorado played five consecutive games dating against each other from last weekend's regular final series. This is the first time in the 75-year history of rivalry that the programs have confronted five consecutive times
• Du played his second Sunday game of the season (October 6 in Alaska Anchorage) and his first home since November 19, 2023 vs. Omaha.
• Senior Jack Devine Herugnag in the NCAA scoretom with 54 points this season (13g/41a).
• Devine moved past Mark Davidson (1976-80) and Ian Ramsey (1981-1985) and to 14th place on the school's scoring list with 160 points.
• The pioneers are now 5-3 in the best-of-three series in the conference tournament after winning game 2. Du is 5-5 of all time in game 3s and 3-0 in those trips in the NCHC tournament

Target
1st period

2:20 of (1-0) Samu Salminen Then tapped in the puck in the lock Cale Ashcroft's Schoot from the point was initially blocked.
17:27 of (2-0) Garrett Brown took a pass from Hagen BurrowsToe around a Tigers defender and went high, short side with the puck while he drove to the net.
18:32 cc (2-1) Ty Gallagher knocked in the Puck in the low lock.

2nd period

3:40 of (3-1) Anderson knows Loaded a one-timer from the blue line on a pass through ZEEV BUIM.
15:58 (4-1) Kieran Cebrian tense from the lock after taking a drop -pass from Jared Wrightwho received a stretch feed by Cale Ashcroftt.
17:29 of (5-1) SHG” Carter King forced a turnover in the neutral zone and buried a shot of five holes during an escape.

3rd period

0:49 of (6-1) Ppg” Carter King took a bumper pass Aidan Thompson And shot a snap shot in the net of the lock.
2:49 cc (6-2) SHGTy Gallagher hit a loose puck at the fold.
3:38 of (7-2) Boston Buckberger's Schoot went from the point of the gloves of both a CC skater and goalkeeper before he dropped over the goal line.
9:28 of (8-2) Ppg” Eric Pohlkamp Save twine to a wrist shot with 16 seconds to a 5-on-3.
10:14 (9-2) Ppg” Rieger Lorenz shot a wrist in the cage from the slot machine.

Quotables
Richard and Kitzia Goodman Hockey Head Coach David Carle
When closing the game: “We stopped them earlier this year. Both games in their building and we were both three goals both times. Of course, this time in the third it was four. We wanted to keep our urgency level high and ensure that we had everything to fight. Level.”

About the difference in tonight's games“We had a good start on Friday, but the urgency was not everywhere. It just dropped during the game and on Saturday it was a great start. Our Power Play was excellent early, start 3-out-3, a huge factor in our ability to stay in the game and to chase those leads and ultimately the lead. just. “

On the rest of the tournament: “It is a great event, clear the last time that our competition will be in the Xcel Energy Center. Arizona State, their first year in our competition, the opportunity to play at a great location and we are in the moment of the year in which we know everyone. Play for us. A team that we played four times have been really exciting games.

On the state opposite the state of Arizona: “They are very dynamic attacking during the power play and 5-on-5. You can't relax against them. I think that's the biggest challenge, you just can't relax. They have game breakers everywhere during their line-up, at Forward and by defense. They were a bit beaten to start the year in the country. had.

Senior captain Carter King
On his emotions: “As I said in the (cupboard) room, I love this place. It means that the absolute world is here to be here. I also told them that I would never want to end this year; I have a lot of fun with this team, and of course our fans and everyone. It was an incredible year and many emotions that come out, but for good reason.”

About what the team worked in Game 3: “I am very proud of our efforts, really proud of the trust and the Swagger with which we came in. We did not leave our foot off the gas at all. We came in detail and ready to go on a Sunday, which we are not really used to, but I was really proud of the details we came up with.”

About the motivation for Minnesota: “Keep it rolling. Of course we have Swagger, we have some faith in the following weekend, and we have to roll that. We have to come up with intensity and details and be prepared for who we play. It is the state of Arizona, I believe.”

About team confidence: “I think it is a collection of everything we have experienced all year round. I feel that I say this every time; we are growing or loss every weekend, winning or loss. That is the culture we have here, is that every week you get better to prepare if you really need it. Good to have the right time.

About what the key is for next week to win the Frozen Faceoff championship: “Het is snel, weet je, je speelt vrijdag-zaterdag en het beweegt snel. Het is niet zoals de regionals waar je donderdag-zaterdag-zaterdag of vrijdag-zondag speelt, en je hebt die dag ertussenin. Dus je moet gedetailleerd worden, je moet het samenvoegen, en dan heb je het team samengevoegd, dus we hebben het team samengevoegd, dus we hebben het ald door het team, dus we hebben het ald door het team, dus we hebben het ald door It weighs for a while, we have it all the team.