On March 26, the DU Pioneers battled the Boston University Terriers in the first round of the NCAA tournament at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. Prior to the tournament, DU was ranked No. 6 in the NCAA, while BU was ranked No. 9. Four teams from the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) competed in the first round of the tournament: DU, University of North Dakota, St. Cloud State University and University of Minnesota-Duluth.
DU completely dominated BU, tallying a whopping seven goals. The Denver defense was able to hold BU to only two goals, both of which were scored in the third period. The final score was 7-2, which advanced DU to the West Regional Final against Ferris State University.
The first goal of the game came with about six minutes remaining in the first. Freshman Blake Hillman (Elk River, Minnesota) scored on BU’s senior goalie Sean Maguire (Powell River, Canada) after the puck bounced off Hillman’s skate. Assists on the goal came from freshman Troy Terry (Denver) and junior Evan Janssen (Green Bay, Wisconsin). The Pioneers got on the board again with two minutes remaining in the first; this time with freshman superstar Dylan Gambrell (Bonney Lake, Washington) scoring his 16th goal of the season.
A penalty on BU given at the end of the first carried over into the next period, which allowed junior defenseman Will Butcher (Sun Prairie, Wisconsin) to score on the power play 30 seconds into the second. Two and half minutes later, junior Matt Marcinew (Calgary, Canada) hammered one past Maguire to increase DU’s lead to four. After the fourth DU goal, Maguire was pulled from the BU goal and replaced by sophomore Connor LaCouvee (Qualicum Beach, Canada).
Junior Evan Janssen added to the DU lead to bring the score to 5-0. Talented BU freshman Charlie McAvoy (Long Beach, New York) was handed a five minute major penalty for charging. Shortly afterwards, BU sophomore Brandon Hickey (Leduc, Canada) also received a penalty, which led to Butcher scoring his second goal of the night on DU’s two-man advantage.
With seven minutes remaining in the game, BU finally got on the board with a goal from senior Danny O’Regan (Needham, Massachusetts). DU’s lead continued to grow after senior Nolan Zajac’s (Winnipeg, Canada) slapshot went wide and junior Trevor Moore (Thousand Oaks, California) scored on the wrap around. The final goal of the game was scored by BU senior Mike Moran (Marshfield, Massachusetts) to bring the final score to 7-2.
After winning against BU, the Pioneers faced the Ferris State University (FSU) Bulldogs on Sunday, March 26.
DU’s scoring began early with a power play goal from sophomore Danton Heinen (Langley, Canada), assisted by Gambrell, but FSU did not let DU’s lead last very long. Junior Gerald Mayhew (Wyandotte, Michigan) scored on DU goaltender Tanner Jaillet (Red Deer, Canada). Gambrell would bring the lead back after scoring on FSU with one minute remaining in the first. FSU scored again on a power play with only 20 seconds left in the period. The goal by freshman Corey Mackin (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) ended the first period at 2-2.
The only goal scored in the second came from Moore. FSU tied the game in the third period with a goal from Kyle Schempp (Saginaw, Michigan). However, DU went on a spree in the last five minutes of the game with goals being scored by Hillman, Zajac, and senior Quentin Shore (Denver). The final score of the West Regional Final was 6-3, with DU coming out on top.
On Thursday April 7, DU will face the University of North Dakota in Tampa Bay, Florida for the semifinal game of the 2016 NCAA Frozen Four. This is the first time DU has been to the Frozen Four since 2005, when they won the NCAA Championship. If DU defeats UND, they will compete for the national title.
