ST. PAUL, Minn. – It can be a very difficult task to end an opponent’s season – especially when you have to rally as many times as Denver did on Friday.
But the Pioneers’ high-powered offense blitzed St. Cloud State with 13 goals in a two-game road sweep three weeks ago, and they had enough offense in their conference tournament semifinal to rally and end their rival’s season earlier than it has ended in seven years.
Zeev Buium capped a three-point night with the game-winning goal, helping No. 3 Denver overcome No. 17 St. Cloud State 5-4 in overtime from the Xcel Energy Center to send the Pioneers to the NCHC Frozen Faceoff championship game and ending the Huskies’ season in the process.
“Proud of our team’s effort tonight,” said Denver coach David Carle. “We have the utmost respect for St. Cloud, Brett Larson, their staff, the season they had and the effort they put in.”
Denver, who went 4-0-1 against St. Cloud State this season, fell behind by a goal four times Friday yet had an answer each time, and they had the final laugh in sealing a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament by advancing to Saturday’s final.
“Our guys have executed offensively all year very well,” said Carle. “I think it was a great challenge for us.”
Four different players had go-ahead goals for the Huskies, but they couldn’t manage one more in regulation or in the extra session, and as a result they will miss the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2017, two seasons before current head coach Brett Larson took charge.
“It does sting right now for sure – for the older guys especially,” Larson said. “We were always right in there.”
WINNER WINNER!
Zeev Buium tallies his 1st career game-winning goal and it's a big one for tonight's @Safeway Goal of the Game!#GoPios pic.twitter.com/9M5o5x18IZ
— Denver Hockey (@DU_Hockey) March 23, 2024
Not much was expected after many key players departed last season’s team, but a young team still made it this far and pushed the nation’s best offense to the extra season in the final game, giving it everything they had in defeat.
“Obviously whenever you get the lead you don’t want to let them score, and get back into it and get the momentum,” said SCSU defenseman Josh Luedtke. “Unfortunately, they were able to answer every time we got the lead, so it stings but our guys left it all out there for sure.”
St. Cloud jumped ahead in the opening minutes as Cooper Wylie scored from the top of the right circle, then Denver tied it about seven minutes later when Buium, the NCHC rookie of the year, made a nice move weaving through SCSU skaters and scored from just out in front of Isak Posch. Nick Portz answered 1:17 later with a goal off an offensive-zone faceoff, but the Pioneers equalized it for the second time late in the first when McKade Webster showed brilliant awareness after winning a battle behind the SCSU net, skating back and tucking it in past Posch, who didn’t react quickly enough to cover the side.
“I just took it to the net and went in,” Webster said. “Nothing much to it, honestly.”
The Huskies took their third lead just a minute into the second period when Adam Ingram beat Matt Davis five-hole after Verner Miettinen found him on a centering feed. Once again, the Pioneers responded when Miko Mattika snapped one home from the top of the right circle, and after Barrett Hall restored St. Cloud State’s lead for the fourth time in the contest with a power-play goal on a rebound out front, Mattika had Denver’s fourth equalizer on a tip in front following a five-minute major in which the Pioneers could not cash in on.
The third period saw DU outshoot SCSU 9-3 and they had more scoring chances, but Posch made some big saves. The best chance for the Huskies came when a Tyson Gross backhand shot hit the pipe.
“I thought he really held us in there,” Larson said of Posch.
Buium finally finished things off in overtime with a nice move and a backhand goal, and the Pioneers advance to face a red-hot Mavericks team coming off a dominant 6-3 victory over North Dakota earlier Friday.
“I don’t know if there’s a hotter team in the country than Omaha right now,” Carle said.
Puck drop between Omaha and Denver is set for 7:30 p.m. CDT Saturday night.
