CHICAGO – For the second straight season the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) is home to the NCAA national champions as overall No. 1 seed Denver won the 2017 NCAA title with a thrilling, 3-2 victory over fellow NCHC foe and overall No. 2 seed Minnesota Duluth Saturday night at the United Center in the first ever all-NCHC national championship game. The Pioneers earned their eighth NCAA crown in program history behind sophomore forward Jarid Lukosevicius’ hat trick, all in the second period.

Denver (33-7-4) started the game strong, firing the first nine shots on goal of the game, while also hitting both posts in the first six minutes, but DU was unable to find the back of the net. UMD (28-7-7) then responded with eight of the next 11 shots in the game, with Denver junior goalie Tanner Jaillet, the 2017 Mike Richter Award winner, needing to make a quick leg pad save to keep game scoreless. Denver had the first of its two power play chances late in opening period but was unable to capitalize as the teams went to the locker room goalless.

The offenses awoke in the second stanza, with Lukosevicius potting all three of his goals for his first career hat trick. He opened the scoring 4:44 into the middle period, deflecting a point shot from freshman defenseman Michael Davies to put DU up 1-0. Only 16 ticks later, Lukosevicius doubled Denver’s lead when he took a feed from classmate Troy Terry, beat a Bulldog defenseman and buried the puck.

Minnesota Duluth cut the deficit in half a little over two minutes later when senior forward Alex Iafallo, planted in front of the net, redirected a pass from freshman forward Joey Anderson to make it 2-1. Denver regained its two-goal cushion with 7:37 left in the second period when Lukosevicius completed his hat trick, one-timing home a rebound after fellow sophomore forward Dylan Gambrell’s initial shot was saved by freshman goalie Hunter Miska.

The Bulldogs came out firing in the third period, outshooting DU 17-3 in the final frame. UMD had several good looks on net, but Jaillet came up large each time. Early in the third, DU junior defenseman Tariq Hammond suffered a gruesome injury, putting the Pioneers down to five blue liners. Minnesota Duluth was able to take advantage, making it a one-goal game with 5:21 left in the contest when freshman forward Riley Tufte punched in a rebound after junior forward Avery Peterson’s shot hit the near post and bounced to Tufte in front of goal.

With 1:44 remaining in the game, Miska was pulled for an extra attacker and the Bulldogs ratcheted up the pressure, sending several shots on net, one of which required a full stretch leg pad save from Jaillet. But the Pioneers were able to fend off UMD and hang on for the 3-2 victory, flooding the ice in celebration as the clock hit zero and the horn sounded for their first national championship since 2005.

Behind its strong third period, the Bulldogs actually outshot Denver, 40-28, despite the loss. Jaillet compiled a season-high 38 saves to preserve the win and earn Frozen Four All-Tournament Team honors. Lukosevicius was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Frozen Four after his hat trick, while Terry and senior defenseman and Hobey Baker Award winner Will Butcher also joined him as Pioneers on the All-Tournament Team. Minnesota Duluth sophomore defenseman Neal Pionk and Iafallo rounded out the All-Tournament Team.

Saturday’s national championship game marked the first time two NCHC teams met for the NCAA title in the conference’s brief four-year history, while North Dakota captured the conference’s first NCAA championship last season, defeating Quinnipiac. UND beat Denver in last year’s Frozen Four semifinals, which set up the Pioneers’ run to the championship this season. This year marked the third straight season the NCHC placed two teams in the Frozen Four.

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