With 10 golden rectangular reminders looming in the rafters, the Denver Pioneers made a championship accomplishment seem like a feat before ٳfeat.
As DU’s national title banners stared down onto the ice at Magness Arena, the Pioneers outlasted 4-3 in a double-overtime thriller on Saturday in the Frozen Faceoff Championship. A few freshmen came up huge to lift DU to its record fourth National Cup.
Kristian Epperson scored the game-winning goal on an assist by fellow freshman forward Clarke Caswell less than two minutes into the second OT. On the other end, freshman goalie Johnny Hicks was stellar, tallying 41 saves en route to being named the Frozen Faceoff’s Most Outstanding Player.
Like the last time the Pioneers won the Frozen Faceoff in 2024, when DU went on to capture its record 10th national title, the victory could be a prelude to something much greater. DU had to weather a furious comeback by the Bulldogs, as the Pioneers squandered a three-goal lead before getting the decisive goal by Epperson.
“We talked about (the importance of this game) in the locker room beforehand,” senior forward Rieger Lorenz said. “In 2024, I don’t think we win the national championship if we don’t win the Frozen Faceoff. This was a huge game for our group, and we feel great going into regionals with the way that we’re playing.”
The Pioneers grabbed the momentum quickly, including first-period goals by usual suspects Lorenz and Boston Buckberger, plus a puck that deflected off Caswell and found its way into the net. After UMD ripped off three straight goals to tie the game, DU held on thanks to strong defense in the third and first OT before Epperson’s lamp-lighter.
With the win, the Pioneers finished their conference schedule on a historic home heater.
DU’s won 10 straight games at Magness Arena, their longest home winning streak in a single season in 58 years. And with the Pioneers’ , the home-state advantage is liable to carry the Pioneers back to the Frozen Four.
“At the start of the 10-game win streak, we had a losing record at home, so it’s been a great turnaround and I’m thankful for our fans continuing to come and support,” DU head coach David Carle said. “We don’t go on a run like this without them. Loveland will be very exciting, because our memories from 2022 (regionals en route to the national title) are a full building, a lot of Denver jerseys and crimson and gold in the stands.”
DU also extended its season-long unbeaten streak in the win over UMD, stretching it to 13, during which the Pioneers are 12-0-1. As the Pioneers caught fire down the stretch, they’ve been sparked by Hicks. He remains unbeaten over his first 13 career decisions, with a 12-0-1 mark matching the team’s overall streak.
Hicks’ 13-game unbeaten streak to start his collegiate career is the longest stretch by a DU goalie in the university’s modern statistical era (since 2002-03). And while he wasn’t perfect on Saturday, his play jump-started the Pioneers in the opening minutes, and then allowed DU to settle back in after UMD played its way back into the game.
“I thought both goalies were both team’s best players (from the third period) onward,” Carle said. “There’s not much more to say about (Hicks). He’s been excellent for us, a rock for us. We can’t do it without him. His reads, his poise, his confidence, timely saves. It’s all working for him right now.”
The Kamloops, British Columbia, native snuffed out a clean look less than two minutes in after DU had a sloppy turnover in its own D zone. About 30 seconds later, Hicks rose up again, this time deflecting a shot of a one-on-one with UMD’s Aaron Pionk.
Those two stops helped turn the momentum that led to DU’s early onslaught.
Three and a half minutes into the first, Samu Salminen — who had the OT goal to advance the Pioneers past Western Michigan — chased down a loose puck in the corner and zipped a perfect feed to Lorenz in the left faceoff circle. Lorenz fired to the top left shelf to score, extending his career-long point streak to 11 games for a 1-0 lead.
The Pioneers pushed the lead to 2-0 off a line change three minutes later. Caswell charged up ice with the puck and dumped it back to Cale Ashcroft, who wristed a shot from the left faceoff circle. It hit off a UMD defender, then bounced off Caswell and past UMD goalie Adam Gajan, a fortuitous double-ricochet for the Pioneers.
Buckburger then made it 3-0 with a top-shelf wrist shot through traffic from center ice, a few feet in front of the blue line. But the Bulldogs grabbed a hint of momentum back with 1:22 left in the first, when Hicks stopped a slap shot but then UMD’s Max Plante put the rebound through the five-hole.
In the second, the Bulldogs turned what looked like a possible laugher into a tight game. Hicks made a couple impressive saves to start the period, but UMD made it 3-2 off a power play goal when Grayden Siepmann scored on an open slap shot to the left side of the net a little over four minutes in.
“Our guys stayed with the game,” UMD head coach Scott Sandelin said. “After the first period, we were a pretty good hockey team, and it was a heavyweight battle at the end… We knew we needed to build off that goal (at the end of the first). We were very tentative to start.”
As the DU offense struggled to reassert control over the game, Hicks made several saves to preserve the lead. That included stopping a point-blank wrister. But another penalty led to the equalizer, when UMD’s Hunter Anderson got threaded a cross-ice pass for a wide-open look and wristed a goal to the top right shelf. The score came in the waning seconds of the power play and with just under two minutes in the period, and quieted the crimson and gold-clad crowd.
In the third, a stalemate ensued, with neither team able to muster much. The Bulldogs got a break about 11 minutes in, when Sam Harris was whistled for an interference penalty that left Magness Arena incensed. But DU killed the power play, with Hicks making two key stops in the final seconds of the penalty.
When he did that, and DU got back to full strength, the arena erupted, with the Pioneers faithful on their feet and waving hundreds of white towels. The final few minutes of regulation were frantic, with both Hicks and Gajan standing tall in the face of numerous solid scoring chances.
In OT, Hicks continued to shine, including stopping another one-on-one UMD opportunity. Both offenses continued to pressure hard, but to no avail.
Thanks to Epperson’s goal from the front-left side of the crease in the second OT, the Pioneers avoided a sickening taste of déjà vu. Last year, DU blew a three-goal lead in the final period of the Frozen Faceoff Championship and
But Hicks’ heroics over the final few periods, punctuated by Epperson’s game-winner, ensured that wouldn’t happen again. DU won its 19th league title, with 15 coming in the WCHA.
“Great start by us, great response by them, and we found a way to make a play at the end,” Carle said. “… We’re going to play some overtime in the next (stretch), and there’s going to be tight games. We’re going to have to feel comfortable and confident in these moments.”
