MADISON, Wis. — The only visual advantage the University of Denver had Saturday was its white sweaters, signifying that the Pioneers were the home team.
The setting belonged to the color red. Red-dressed fans. Red crossbars. Red goalposts.
DU’s season ended amid a sea of Wisconsin fans who watched their rested Badgers score four third-period goals and reach .500 by winning 6-2 in an NCAA Midwest Regional tournament semifinal game at the Kohl Center.
The No. 2-seeded Pioneers started slow, gave up the all-important first goal of the game, and then hit the red iron behind Wisconsin goalie Shane Connelly four times before getting on the scoreboard.
When play opened up later, DU was starting from zero, forced to play catch-up while feeling that its ticket to the Frozen Four at the Pepsi Center was being shredded by bad luck.
“Hitting the crossbar or the post is like kissing your sister. You’d rather almost miss the net,” DU defenseman Chris Butler said. “If a couple of those shots go the other way, we’re celebrating right now. That could have changed the whole dynamics of the game.”
The No. 3-seeded Badgers led 2-0 before Dusty Jackson’s goal late in the second period briefly silenced the partisan crowd of 9,968. But then irony met iron.
Wisconsin’s Cody Goloubef clanged a slap shot off the goalpost, but the puck ricocheted off DU goalie Peter Mannino and into the net to make it 3-1 midway through the third period.
“That’s the way the puck bounced for us,” Mannino said. “It was frustrating, a big difference-maker in the game.”
With desperate DU pinching in the offensive end, the Badgers added two breakaway goals to turn it into a rout, and later added an empty netter.
DU, the Western Collegiate Hockey Association playoff champion, ends 26-14-1.
“Funny how this game works at times, by fractions of an inch,” Pioneers coach George Gwozdecky said. “We had our chances, great opportunities to score. But early on, we either missed or hit posts.”
Wisconsin (16-16-7), which slipped into the national tournament after losing a WCHA first-round series to St. Cloud State, will play WCHA rival North Dakota in tonight’s regional title game.
The No. 1 Fighting Sioux, despite getting outshot 39-18, defeated No. 4 Princeton 5-1 in the first semifinal Saturday behind a hat trick from 2007 Hobey Baker Award winner Ryan Duncan.
Denver loses three seniors: defenseman and captain Andrew Thomas, Mannino and winger Tom May, who made it 4-2 midway through the third period.
Butler, a junior, and freshman center Tyler Bozak might be persuaded to begin professional careers this summer.
Eleven of DU’s 12 top forwards are freshmen or sophomores.
“We had goals and we didn’t accomplish (all of) them,” Mannino said. “We won the (WCHA) Final Five, won the Denver Cup and made the national tournament.
“We’re not completely happy but there are things guys accomplished that they’ll cherish and remember. Especially me. I’ll cherish this season for the rest of my life.”
North Dakota 5, Princeton 1
Ryan Duncan scored three goals and Jean-Philippe Lamoureux made 38 saves for North Dakota.
North Dakota (27-10-4), trying to advance to its fourth consecutive Frozen Four, will face WCHA rival Wisconsin today in the regional final.
Wisconsin 1 1 4 — 6
Denver 0 1 1 — 2
First period — 1, Wisconsin, Davies 12 (McBain, Geoffrion), 8:59. Penalties — Ford, UW (elbowing), 3:52; Ostrow, DU (holding), 4:32; McDonagh, UW (interference), 15:38.
Second period — 2, Wisconsin, McBain 4 (Engel, Turris), 8:15 (pp). 3, Denver, Jackson 5 (Martin, Ruegsegger), 16:40 (pp). Penalties — Dolan, UW (boarding), 2:15; Testwuide, DU (roughing), 7:38; Testwuide, DU (cross checking), 7:38; Drewiske, UW (roughing), 7:38; Street, UW (tripping), 8:40; Brookwell, DU (slashing), 12:13; McDonagh, UW (roughing), 14:53; Thomas, DU (cross checking), 18:09; 18:09; Mitchell, UW (roughing), 18:09; Brookwell, DU (roughing), 18:09.
Third period — 4, Wisconsin, Goloubef 3 (Street), 9:19. 5, Wisconsin, Mitchell 8 (Grotting), 10:19. 6, Denver, May 9 (Martin, Maiani), 11:47. 7, Wisconsin, Davies 13 (Drewiske), 14:38. 8, Wisconsin, Drewiske 5 (Davies), 17:14 (en). Penalties — Johnson, UW (hooking), 1:06; Brookwell, DU (holding), 4:13; Mitchell, UW (roughing), 18:53; Cunningham, DU (roughing), 18:53.
Shots — UW 7-10-9—26. DU 12-8-12—32. Power plays — UW 1 of 5. DU 1 of 6. Goalies — UW, Connelly (15-15-5) 32 shots-30 saves. DU, Mannino (25-14-1) 25-20. A — 9,968.
Mike Chambers: 303-954-1357 or mchambers@denverpost.com
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
