ST. PAUL, Minn. — Tristan Broz scored his second overtime goal of the NCAA tournament and No. 3 seed Denver beat No. 2 seed Boston University 2-1 on Thursday night to advance to the national championship game for the first time since winning the title in 2022.
Denver (31-9-3), playing in its 19th Frozen Four, seeks its 10th national title in program history against No. 1 overall seed Boston College on Saturday — which would break a tie with Michigan for the most in college hockey.
Denver has just two losses since the start of February, going 14-2-1 in the past 17 games.
Boston College, meanwhile, got two goals from freshman Will Smith and Cutter Gauthier’s nation-leading 38th of the season in a 4-0 win over Michigan on Thursday.
Boston College (34-5-1) will look to avenge an October loss to Denver when the two teams square off for the national championship. The Eagles, in their 26th Frozen Four, are seeking their sixth title in program history — and first since 2012.
Michigan (23-15-2) was playing in the Frozen Four for a third consecutive season, and 28th overall.
In the opening game, BU senior Luke Tuch opened the scoring at 7:45 of the first period with his 10th goal of the season. He stole the puck and went in alone for a shorthanded goal. It was BU’s fourth shorthanded goal of the season — and first scored by somebody other than Nick Zabaneh.
Boston University (28-10-2) entered 19-1-0 this season when leading after the first period.
Denver’s Tristan Lemyre tied it at 1-all with his second goal of the season. He took advantage of a wide-open slot by beating BU goalie Mathieu Caron.
Broz scored from the top of the right circle at 11:09 of overtime by leading a 3-on-2 and sending a wrist shot through the pads of Caron. It was the 40th point of the season for Broz.
Matt Davis, who made his 25th straight start in net, saved 33 shots for Denver.
The Pioneers have won five straight games against the Terriers, setting a record for the longest winning streak in the series. Denver won the first four games from 1960 to ’67, while Boston had a four-game winning streak from 1990 to ’99.
It was the second Frozen Four game in a row to reach overtime; Quinnipiac won last season’s national championship game in extra time.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
