LAS VEGAS – Kent Anderson scored from the slot at 7:25 of the second overtime, backed up by Johnny Hicks’ 49 saves, to lead Denver to a 4-3 victory over Michigan on Thursday night in the Frozen Four semifinals and keep alive the Pioneers’ hopes of winning their third national title in five years.
The Pioneers (28-11-3), the No. 2 regional seed, advanced to Saturday’s championship game against Wisconsin (24-12-2) after a 2-1 win over North Dakota in the other semifinal. Denver will try to extend its record to 11 titles.
“I don’t score a lot of goals, so this one is still on top,” Anderson said. “It means everything is to play for in this national championship game.”
Michigan (31-8-1) had hoped to make its first championship appearance since 2011 and win its first championship since 1998. The Wolverines, who defeated the Pioneers 52–26, were also trying to tie Denver for most overall championships.
They hoped to take the next step this weekend, reaching the Frozen Four for the fourth time in five years.
“It’s a tough one to finish,” Michigan coach Brandon Naurato said. “It’s really special what these seniors have done for this program. You can tell a little bit from the outside, but if you’re in that room and had all the conversations we had with these guys, they changed the program.”
Denver’s Clark Caswell finished with a goal and an assist, sending the game into overtime. Kyle Chayzowski and Cal Ashcroft also scored, and Hicks – a freshman – set personal highs in defense.
Hicks, who entered the game leading the nation with a 1.12 goals-against average and .958 save percentage, was stopped after taking a bad hit early in the third period when teammate Eric Jamison made contact with Michigan’s Malcolm Spence at the net.
“He’s a warrior, he’s not fazed — he was our best player tonight,” Pioneers coach David Carle said.
Josh Ernis, Jaden Perron and TJ 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 finals when Perron scored from the right point with 8:58 remaining in regulation. That goal came on the power play, with the nation’s top-ranked unit entering the game converting 31.6% of its opportunities.
However, Denver kept its season alive when Caswell redirected a shot from Garrett Brown off the goal line with 2:46 remaining in regulation.
Neither team scored in the first overtime, although Pioneers winger Rieger Lorenz hit the crossbar. Teammate Boston Buckburger’s left hand later bled badly when it was stepped on, but he played on despite it.
Michigan outscored Denver through extra sessions, outscoring the Pioneers 21–8, including 13–3 in the second OT.
“We kept at it the whole game,” Anderson said. “Our belief didn’t change when we were third.”
Wisconsin 2, North Dakota 1
In the other semifinal, Simon Tacey and Ryan Botterill scored 27 seconds apart in the first period and Wisconsin advanced to the Frozen Four title game for the first time since 2010.
The Badgers (24-12-2) have won six titles, the most recent coming 20 years ago.
“At this time of the season, [winning is] That’s all that matters,” Wisconsin coach Mike Hastings said. “It doesn’t have to be the Mona Lisa. You just have to find a way to make sure you live another day, and this group has talked about this moment for a long time.”
Wisconsin defeated North Dakota (29-10-1) for the first time in the NCAA Tournament after going 0-3 against the Fighting Hawks. Wisconsin, which defeated a No. 1 seed for the second consecutive time, had gone 1-11-2 in its previous 14 meetings with the Hawks.
“I think this time of year you’ve got to play your best hockey,” Wisconsin defenseman Ben Dexheimer said. “We’re moving slowly, and it’s pretty close to one of our best [games]. “So we will continue to keep the trajectory upward.”
North Dakota, which came less than a minute from elimination for the first time in more than a year, is a decade from winning its eighth national championship.
Daniel Hauser stopped 21 shots for the Badgers, including making a tough glove save through traffic while sitting on a 6-on-5 with 2:05 left.
“Luckily, I got a sight line,” Hauser said. “I was lucky enough to get a glove on it. It was probably a box-out of one of our D-men that let me see it. It was kind of a funny play, but I came up with it.”
Front-line center Ellis Rickwood scored North Dakota’s only goal on 6-on-5, and Jan Spooner made 35 saves.
The Badgers’ defense limited the offense of North Dakota, which entered the game third nationally in scoring (3.8 goals per game). But Wisconsin’s forecast set the starting points and set the tone.
Wisconsin dominated the first period, taking 18 shots on goal to four. The Badgers scored twice in a span of 27 seconds when Tassie and Botterill hit the back of the net from the right circle.
Even when the Hawks had chances, they generally failed to take advantage, scoring 0-5 on the power play, including a 5-on-3 in the second period that lasted 1:56. Ollie Josephson also missed a chance to score on a breakaway in that period.
“Special teams are an important part of the game,” North Dakota defenseman Jake Liwanavage said. “We weren’t that good. We really needed to take advantage of the power play we had.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
