Pioneers fall 1-0 to Tigers in Frozen Faceoff semifinals

Box Score ST. PAUL, Minn. The Denver Pioneers ice hockey team lost to the Colorado College Tigers 1-0 on Friday in the semifinals of the NCHC Frozen Faceoff at the Xcel Energy Center.

“Every time we’ve had a setback, this team has shown the ability to look in the mirror and honestly evaluate what didn’t go well,” said Richard and Kitzia Goodman head hockey coach. David Carle. “We did it a year ago, we’ve done it all this season in times of adversity, and we’re going to do the same thing again.”

Hunter McKown scored the Tigers’ only goal of the afternoon on the power play with 6:38 left in the second period. Nicklas Andrews and Noah Laba had assists.

CC finished 1-4 on the power play, while Denver went 0-4 on the man advantage.

keeper Magnus Crona started for DU and stopped 20 of 21 shots in the first 49:28 of the contest. This first action since February 25 due to a lower body injury. Matt Davis finished the game and made five saves.

“He’s fine. I pulled him,” Carle said of Chrona’s condition after the game. “I wanted to [Davis] you can play puck a little more there. [Chrona] had gotten the pucks and touches he needed, and Magnus is just fine.”

The Tigers outshot the Pioneers 26-23 in the game, but Denver was outscored 18-14 in the final two periods.

Colorado College goaltender Kaidan Mbereko of Aspen made 23 saves to snap DU’s 11-game winning streak against the in-state rival that began on 1/2/2021.

Despite the loss, Denver is still expected to be the No. 1 seed at the start of the NCAA Tournament next week. The Pioneers will find out where they will travel to regionals on Sunday at 4:30 PM MT during ESPNU’s NCAA Selection Show.

Colorado College will face the winner of the other semifinal between St. Cloud State and North Dakota on Saturday at 6:37 PM MT.

POST-GAME NOTES

• The matchup was the 337th all-time meeting between DU and CC, and the rivalry between Michigan and Michigan State ended in one of college hockey’s most played contests.
• The teams played their second ever contest in the Frozen Faceoff in Minnesota and first since 2019’s third-place finish. The last time the rivals met in the semifinals or finals of the conference tournament was in the 2005 WCHA Final Five championship game.
• Denver is now 16-12 all-time vs. Colorado College in conference tournaments and 5-2 in the NCHC.
• CC picked up its first-ever win over DU at the Xcel Energy Center (DU is now 3-1-0).
• The Pioneers are now 24-9-1 all-time in the NCHC tournament.
• Denver fell to 2-8 all-time on St. Patrick’s Day.
• DU won the preliminary matches 35/50 Carter King and Aidan Thompson both won 13 draws.
• Carter Mazur his career-long 10-game point streak (5g/9a) and six-game assist streak both ended.
• Tristan Lemyre ended his four-game point streak and three-game goal streak (3g/3a) during his career.
• Sean Behrens, Magnus Crona, Massimo Rizzo, McCade Webster and Jared Wright all returned to the lineup after recent absences due to multiple injuries.
• Mike Benning (illness) missed his first game of the season.

OBJECTIVE SUMMARY
1st season

No scoring

2nd season

13:22 CC (0-1) PPG, Hunter McKown hits a wrist shot from the left circle.

3rd season

No scoring

QUOTATIONS
Richard and Kitzia Goodman head coaches David Carle
In play: “Congratulations to CC. I thought they were the better team tonight. They were a lot hungrier and more desperate than us and it was disappointing that we didn’t get it going. I wasn’t surprised early that it was, but I thought we had moments , where we pushed and maintained that level. They’re an excellent defensive team and they make things difficult for you. The goaltending was good. They won the special teams battle and are going to the championship game, so congratulations to them.”

Senior Captain Justin Lee
In CC’s game: “They wanted it more. They were a little hungrier than we were, and they were able to keep us out tonight, where we had trouble breaking through and getting into the house and tough areas. They just kept us out and made our lives more difficult.”

Hunter McKown’s goal: “He made a nice move there, a nice pump fake, and he was able to get around me. I take responsibility for that. I should have been in that lane. He’s a very skilled player and he’s very good with the puck, so you just try to get in his way there.”

Senior Vice-Captain Kyle Mayhew
On Colorado College’s defensive strategy: “I just think they were able to keep us out all night. I think one of our strengths that we’ve always had is our skill, especially with the puck, our speed, and putting the two together and I think we were able to penetrate and get to the middle and get chances from there . I just think we were outside most of the game. They kept us in there all night. We weren’t in front of the net very much the whole game, so we just weren’t in the “house” enough.

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