COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – After being named National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) Goaltender of the Month on Wednesday, Denver junior Matt Davis gloved another honor on Thursday when he was selected the HCA National Goaltender of the Month for March, as the Hockey Commissioners Association (HCA) announced the final monthly award winners of the season.
 
Davis is the second straight NCHC netminder to earn HCA national monthly honors after Colorado College sophomore Kaidan Mbereko garnered National Goaltender of the Month for February. Davis is also the third Pioneer to collect HCA national monthly honors this season after DU junior forward Massimo Rizzo was October Player of the Month and freshman defenseman Zeev Buium shared Player of the Month honors in November. This is Davis’ first career national monthly award and he becomes the first Pioneer ever to win National Goaltender of the Month.
 
Davis (Calgary, Alta.) elevated his game in March, backstopping the Pioneers to a 9-1-0 record while winning the NCHC Frozen Faceoff and the NCAA Springfield, Mass. Regional during the month. He finished March on a career-best seven-game winning streak and was named Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Northeast Regional, allowing only two goals and making 70 saves in the two games to push DU through to the Frozen Four. Davis led the NCHC with a 1.89 goals-against average in March and tied for first with a .931 save percentage. His 268 saves (26.80 saves/game) were second in the conference during the month.
 
In Springfield, Davis made a career-high 46 saves in a 2-1 double-overtime win over No. 13 Massachusetts, host of the regional, to open the NCAA Tournament. He then followed it up two days later on March 30 with 24 saves in a 2-1 win over No. 12 Cornell in the regional final to earn All-Regional Team honors.
 
Davis opened the postseason on March 15 recording his first official shutout of the season in the NCHC Quarterfinals with a 17-save whitewash against Minnesota Duluth. He made 28 more saves on 30 shots the next night, and dished out an assist, to advance DU to the NCHC Frozen Faceoff with a sweep. In Saint Paul, Davis compiled 36 saves to backstop Denver to the NCHC Tournament title, including 15 saves in the 4-1 championship game win over No. 11 Omaha on March 23.
 
Davis heads back to Saint Paul for the Frozen Four next week sporting a 21-5-3 record this year, having made 24 straight starts in net. He ranks third in the NCHC with both a .911 save percentage and 2.48 GAA on the season.
 
The other HCA men’s March monthly honors went to fellow Frozen Four participants Boston College and Boston University. Sophomore forward Cutter Gauthier repeated as HCA Men’s National Player of the Month, while BU freshman Macklin Celebrini took home National Rookie of the Month for March. North Dakota sophomore forward Jackson Blake, the NCHC Player of the Month in March, was a runner-up to Gauthier for HCA National Player of the Month, while Buium was the runner-up for HCA National Rookie of the Month to Celebrini.
 
Davis, Buium and Denver face Celebrini and Boston University in the first NCAA Frozen Four national semifinal next Thursday, April 11. Puck drop is set for 4 p.m. CT/3 p.m. MT at Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minn. The entire Frozen Four will be televised on ESPN2.