ST. PAUL, Minn. — Games between UMD and Denver this season have been either fairly high-scoring or extremely low-scoring.
This one leaned toward the latter.
Scoreless into the third, an early goal by freshman Cole Koepke held up as the game-winner as the Bulldogs beat Denver 3-0 to advance to the NCHC title game Saturday night against No. 1 St. Cloud State.
Koepke's shot from the left circle eluded Denver goalie Filip Larsson after a mad rush to the net by Dylan Samberg that knocked Larsson off his spot. Upon review, Larsson was deemed to have had enough time to regain his positioning. It did appear the officials got that call right.
Unfortunately, they also appeared to get a disallowed goal right that went against the Bulldogs. They thought they made it a 2-0 game near the midpoint of the third off another scramble in front of Larsson. Louie Roehl's right point one-timer banked off the endboards and back to the front, where it hit Larsson in the back of the leg and was loose. Riley Tufte appeared to spin Larsson around before Jesse Jacques tipped the puck across the goal line. The referee signaled a good goal, but it was (correctly) disallowed upon review to keep the game 1-0.
Empty-net goals by Roehl and Koepke sealed the deal, and UMD won by three, but it wasn't a three-goal game.
There was little room for either team. Every inch of the ice was contested.
In other words, just another UMD-Denver game.
Denver had the better of the scoring chances through two periods. Hunter Shepard came up big multiple times, first on a Cole Guttman breakaway early in the second period, then on a super setup to Emilio Pettersen on a Denver power play. He made 25 saves for his sixth shutout of the season, the 14th of his career (adding to his school record), and it came in his 76th straight start, tying Brant Nicklin for the program record. Unless Shepard slips on a banana peel at the team hotel, or Jackson Cates coughs on him, he will set the new school record Saturday night.
Koepke might have been the goal-scorer, but the line of Peter Krieger, Noah Cates, and Nick Swaney was buzzing throughout the game. Playing because Jackson Cates was ill, Jesse Jacques seized the moment and had a strong game. The penalty kill came up big in the third period and kept Denver off the board when it had a chance to tie not long after the disallowed goal.
Good win over a really good Denver team. Now, it's on to the title game against the Huskies, who beat Colorado College 5-2.
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What's on the line Saturday?
A nice trophy.
St. Cloud State will be the No. 1 overall seed and will play its regional in Fargo. UMD will be one of the other three No. 1 seeds, finishing anywhere from second to fourth in the final rankings. The Bulldogs will head out east, but it's not possible right now to pinpoint the exact destination. There is still too much up in the air heading into Championship Saturday.
The other regionals are in Allentown, Pa. (Midwest); Manchester, N.H. (Northeast); and Providence, R.I. (East). The Bulldogs will fly to one of those for a first-round game next Friday or Saturday.
Who's in the tournament at this point?
St. Cloud State, UMD, Minnesota State, and Massachusetts will be the No. 1 seeds. Quinnipiac, Northeastern, Clarkson, Ohio State, Denver, Cornell, Arizona State, and Harvard all appear to be locked into the field.
That leaves four spots.
The Big Ten champion (Penn State or Notre Dame) will get one. The loser will be out.
The Atlantic Hockey champion (American International or Niagara) will get one. The loser will be out.
That's where the fun begins.
Boston College, which has 21 losses, will play Northeastern for the Hockey East title. If BC wins, another bubble team will be out. Bowling Green plays Minnesota State for the WCHA title. The Falcons have a small chance of getting in as an at-large, but likely need to win to secure a spot.
And then there's Providence. Eliminated from the Hockey East playoffs by Boston College last weekend, the Friars are left to watch and wait. If BC and Bowling Green both win, Providence is out. In
this scenario
, Providence is out by, wow, .0001. Could that happen again?
Anyway, way too early to tell. We should get some clarity by the time we go off the air Saturday night. Join us on KDAL for a 7pm pregame, 7:30 faceoff between UMD and St. Cloud State.
It's the third NCHC title game in four years for UMD, the fourth in five years for the Huskies. It will be the second NCHC playoff title for whichever team wins.
