LAS VEGAS – Senior captain Kent Anderson scored only his second goal of the season midway through the second overtime to lift No. 2 seed and fourth-ranked Denver to a thrilling, 4-3, victory over overall No. 1 seed and top-ranked Michigan Thursday night at T-Mobile Arena in the second NCAA Men’s Frozen Four Semifinal.
 
With the win, the Pioneers (28-11-3) advance to Saturday’s National Championship Game. Denver will face the Wisconsin Badgers, who defeated North Dakota in Thursday’s first National Semifinal, 2-1. Both National Semifinals pitted an NCHC team against a Big Ten team, and now the championship game will, as well.
 
DU freshman goaltender Johnny Hicks made a career-high 49 saves in Thursday’s win, including 21 in the two overtimes, as Michigan outshot the Pioneers, 52-26, in the game. With the victory, Denver pushes its win streak to 12 games and unbeaten streak to 16 (15-0-1). Hicks, who shook off a hard collision early in the third period, also remains unbeaten for his career at 15-0-1.
 
Freshman forward Clarke Caswell got the Pioneers to overtime, tying the game at 3-3 with only 2:46 left in regulation. He redirected a pass from junior defenseman Garrett Brown and put it top shelf from a tight angle outside the crease for his eighth goal of the year.
 
Fellow freshman Kyle Chyzowski opened the game’s scoring midway through the first period, firing home a shot from the slot. Brendan McMorrow and Kieran Cebrian set up the goal with tic-tac-toe passing.
 
Michigan answered with two goals in a minute late in the first period. Josh Eernisse tied the game with a snipe off a faceoff, while T.J. Hughes put the Wolverines ahead after an unlucky bounce off the back boards allowed Hughes to put the puck in the net on the back side.
 
Junior Cale Ashcroft knotted things for Denver 2:30 into the second stanza. The defenseman fired a wrister from inside the blue line that found its way through traffic and into the back of the net for his third goal of the season.
 
Denver nearly won in the first overtime as senior Rieger Lorenz hit the crossbar. Hicks kept DU’s season alive as Michigan fired 13 shots on goal in the second overtime before Anderson’s heroics put the Pioneers back in the National Championship.
 
Caswell and fellow freshman Kristian Epperson each had two-point games for Denver, with Epperson assisting on both Caswell’s game-tying goal and Anderson’s game-winner. DU finished 0-for-5 on the power play, while Michigan went 1-for-2, with each team getting a man advantage in overtime.
 
The Pioneers are looking for their third national title in five years (2022, 2024) and 11th in program history on Saturday. Puck drop against the Badgers is set for 3:30 p.m. MT/2:30 p.m. PT with the Championship Game televised on ESPN and streamed on TSN+ in Canada.

POSTGAME NOTES:

• With the win in the Frozen Four, Denver advances to its 14th NCAA National Championship Game in program history. DU is 10-3 in past title games, with the 10 NCAA championships the most in men’s college hockey history. One of the Pioneers’ three losses in the championship game did come against Wisconsin in 1973, however Denver is 5-0 in title games since, including most recently in 2024.
• Denver defeated Michigan in the Frozen Four semifinals for the second time in five years, also knocking UM off in the 2022 Frozen Four in Boston. That game was also decided in overtime (one OT) and was the last meeting between the teams prior to Thursday.
• The NCHC will now have a team in the National Championship Game for the 10th time in the last 10 NCAA Tournaments (since 2016). Teams from the NCHC have won seven of the last nine national titles, including each of the last two (Denver in 2024, Western Michigan in 2025).
• The Pioneers improved to 6-3 all-time in double-overtime, including 2-0 this year, and 3-1 in NCAA Tournament games that needed a second extra session. This is the third straight season that the Pioneers have played an NCAA Tournament game that needed double OT, going 2-1 in such games. Denver also defeated Minnesota Duluth in double OT in this year’s NCHC Frozen Faceoff Championship Game in March.
• Denver is now on a 12-game winning streak and 16-game unbeaten streak (15-0-1), dating back to Jan. 24. Both are the longest active streaks in the country. The 12-game win streak is DU’s longest since starting the 2024-25 season with 12 straight wins.
• Denver freshman goaltender Johnny Hicks made a career-high 49 saves in Thursday’s win over Michigan. His previous career high was 41 saves against UMD in the Frozen Faceoff Championship Game that went to double OT on March 21.