Springfield, Massachusetts – The University of Denver hockey team has earned a ticket to the 2024 NCAA Frozen Four, marking the program's fifth national semifinal appearance in the past eight national tournaments.
Two freshmen scored for top-seeded Denver, which won 2-1 over third-seeded Cornell Big Red in the Northeast Regional final Saturday afternoon at MassMutual Center.
“It was another absolute war. I'm really proud of our team,” said head hockey coaches Richard and Kitzia Goodman. david carl. “It's a great effort from our team. I'm so proud of them and can't wait to get back to Frozen 4.”
DU (30-9-3, 15-7-2 NCHC), which defeated Massachusetts by the same score in double overtime on Thursday, was the 19th in the program's 75-season history and seventh in the past 20 seasons. He advanced to the “Frozen Four” for the first time. Year. The Pioneers will face Boston College in the national semifinals on Thursday, April 11, after the Terriers defeated Minnesota in the regional finals on the other side of the bracket.
forward Miko Matica and Sam Harris DU had four freshmen score the team's six points in the game.new friends boston back burger and Zeev Buium and senior captain McQuaid Webster and junior Shy Boum Everyone had an assist.
goaltender matt davis He made 24 saves and extended his personal winning streak to seven games. He stopped the final 20 shots of the contest, reaching his best mark with 10 seconds left when he extended his right pad to thwart Ryan Wash during a scramble near the crease.
“It was a great save at the end,” Karl said. “It wasn't just this, but it was easy to get noticed. He made a lot of big saves for us, covered a lot of pucks, gave us a lot of whistles. He did a great job, I'm really proud of him. “
Cornell University (21-12-2 ECAC, 15-6-1 ECAC) took the lead 6:44 into the game when Nick DeSantis scored on a loose puck, and Matika made it 1-1 with a wrist shot 92 seconds into the game. The score was tied. Leave before the first break.
Denver scored an extra goal in the second frame of the second half on a change of direction by Harris Shai Bouium's The shot went right past goaltender Ian Schoen, and the puck slid through the crease and onto the goal line.
Cornell defeated Denver 25-18, and Shane finished with 16 saves.
The Pioneers went 1-for-2 on the power play and gained the man advantage with 2:35 left in regulation, helping to burn up crucial minutes. Cornell went 0-for-1 on the power play.
Denver and Cornell met last season in the Northeast Regional semifinals in Manchester, New Hampshire, with the Big Red defeating the Pioneers 2-0 in hopes of making it to the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year.
This year's NCAA Frozen Four will be held at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. It's the same venue where DU won the NCHC Frozen Faceoff Championship against Omaha last Saturday.
ticket: Information regarding DU ticket allocation for Frozen 4 in 2024 will be announced via email in the near future.
Post-match notes
- goaltender matt davis He was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player and was joined by the forward on the regional all-tournament team. Tristan Bross and Miko Matica and defenseman boston back burger.
- Denver has now advanced to the Frozen Four in five of the last seven NCAA Tournament appearances (2016, 2017, 2019, 2022, 2023; not including 2018 and 2022. 2020 (Canceled in 2018 due to the new coronavirus).
- The freshmen combined for three of DU's four goals and six of its 12 points in two games at regionals.
- boston back burger At NCAA Regionals, he assisted on the third point and is now scoring points in three consecutive games (1g/3a).
- Zeev Buium He recorded an assist and scored 49 points on the season.
- Sam Harris He scored the second winning goal of his career.
- Miko Matica It was his 20th goal of the season.
- goaltender matt davis His seven-game winning streak is his longest career win streak. Magnus Crona Last season, he played seven games from January 27th to February. 15th, 2023.
- It was Denver's 22nd game of the season, and their third consecutive penalty kill. DU has negated each penalty in five of its past six games and eight of its past 11 games.
- DU improved to 8-6-0 overall against Cornell University and 3-3 in the national tournament. Denver played in back-to-back NCAA tournaments against the same team for the first time since facing Ohio State in 2018 and 2019.
- The Pioneers are 2-1 for the first time this season in NCAA regional contests.
- DU extended its season winning streak to seven games, its longest since also going seven games from Nov. 26 to December. The last time they had a winning streak of eight or more games was nine consecutive wins from January 15, 2022 to February 17, 2022. 11, 2022.
- Denver tied for the season-low with two penalty minutes, and both teams combined for six penalty minutes, a season-low in the Pioneer game.
- rookie defenseman Cale Ashcroft Made his NCAA Tournament debut in place of forward. Alex Wiermare It's in the lineup.
Goal overview
1st period
6:44 CU (0-1) – Nick DeSantis scores in the low slot after the puck comes loose on a scramble.
18:28 DU (1-1) – Miko Matica He hit a wrist shot from above the left circle.
2nd period
19:56 DU (2-1) – PPG, Sam Harris chipped Shai Bouium's He took a shot from the right circle past Cornell University goaltender Ian Shane, and the puck slowly drifted across the ice and into the goal.
3rd period
No scoring
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junior goaltender matt davis
Regarding the final minutes of the match: “I thought they did a great job shutting them out there. They're a hard-heavy team and they're going to cause havoc on the net front. They were great in front of me there.”
Regarding last minute saves: ”[They] Popped it out the back door and I slipped and saved. I was so happy to be able to do that and help the people out there. ”
senior forward McQuaid Webster
Here's Cornell University's defense. “I think they're a great hockey team over there. Hats off to them. And hats off to the coaches and all the players on the team. They didn't make our lives easier. That's true. It was a terrible battle.” “I'm happy for the players right now. I'm really proud of the way we fought and our tenacity for 60 minutes in that game. We gave it our all to win. I gave it my all and I'm very proud of it and it's all thanks to them.”
On Denver's improved defense: “Obviously, that was the focus for us mid-season. That's something we really needed to work on. I think now I think everyone should embrace everything they have and make the most of everything they have. I think he's sacrificing things and doing whatever it takes for the team to be successful.''Right now, everyone is doing what they need to do. ”
Richard and Kitzia Goodman Hockey Head Coaches david carl
About Cornell University: “Congratulations to Cornell on a great season. There aren't many coaches in this game who are more respected than Mike Schaefer. The way they play year in and year out, the consistency. He's the same type of person. “He's a great guy, he takes his time for young coaches, he always gave me a lot of great moments and wanted to share his thoughts about the game and different things. Him and Coach I have a lot of respect for the way they operate.”
On playing against a tough defensive team like Cornell: “You try to prepare mentally as best you can. The University of Massachusetts obviously had a similar style, and I think that helped. We knew this was going to be an absolute battle. “This region is for us. When we saw that, we felt like we could overcome. “It's the first game, and regardless of who we play, it prepares us for the second game. I knew State would be a tough checking team as well. I've seen Cornell, and it helped that I played them a year ago. I've had that experience. I understand.” This is also a low-scoring team. It was a competition, but I felt more prepared for the challenge this round. I think UMass helped him with his experience last year. I think we've been able to build these styles. “We've been playing games for the last six to eight weeks. Teams that play in the league defend hard and everyone tries to push us down.'' .We bought a little more solid brand of hockey and decided that's what we needed to do to play in the league.'' “Be successful and give ourselves a chance. We gave them a chance and were able to move in the right direction in both games this weekend.”
When playing low-scoring games: “I'll play anything. [way] we need to play. If you look at our team, we are now comfortable playing any type of game. Regardless of our playing style, we have a lot of confidence. I'm really proud of our team for playing such a great hockey game. ”
