Friday, April 11, 2025

Men’s Notes: BU, Western Michigan Advance to Title Game

Broncos Need Double OT, Terriers Lead Start to Finish

ST. LOUIS – It will be Western Michigan versus Boston University for the NCAA Frozen Four championship on Saturday at the Enterprise Center.

In a pair of closely contested semifinal matchups Thursday, WMU survived a third-period rally by Denver to defeat the Pioneers 3-2 in double overtime, while the Terriers got goals from three different players in a 3-1 victory over Penn State.

Frozen Four Media Kit (.pdf) | Tournament Bracket | TV Schedule

The Broncos are in the program’s first-ever Frozen Four, while BU will be pursuing its sixth NCAA championship and first since 2009. The last time the two programs met head-to-head was during the opening round of the 2022-23 NCAA Regional in Manchester, New Hampshire, a 5-1 BU victory.

Saturday’s championship game gets underway at 6:30 p.m. CT on ESPN2 and ESPN+ in the United States and on TSN2 and TSN+ in Canada. Westwood One will provide the radio broadcast.

Daily Scoreboard | Weekly Schedule | Stat Leaders | Goaltending Leaders

Western Michigan 3, Denver 2 (2OT)

Box Score

Just like their clash three weeks ago in the NCHC Frozen Faceoff championship game, Western Michigan and Denver required double overtime. And just like that battle in Saint Paul, it was the Broncos who found the winner in another college hockey classic.

Owen Michaels (So., Northville, Mich.) scored 26 seconds into the second overtime – his second goal of the night – with a shot from the slot over the glove of DU goalie Matt Davis (Sr., Calgary, Alberta), sending the Broncos to the NCAA title game for the first time.

It was a nation’s-best 33rd win for WMU and it ended the Pioneers’ bid to repeat as national champions.

“Blacked out a little,” said Michaels of his winning goal. “It was kind of a little bit of a broken play, just saw the puck squirt out to me. I was in the middle of the ice and had some open time and space and figured I’d put it on net – and pretty happy it went in.”

Michaels hadn’t lit the lamp since early February and entered the Frozen Four without a goal in his last 14 games. But he scored early in the second period to give the Broncos a 2-0 lead, building on Brian Kramer’s (Gr., Wexford, Pa.) opening tally eight minutes earlier, and his OT winner was his 16th goal of the year, good for second on the team.

The game might not have made it to overtime without the incredible play of Davis, the Most Outstanding Player of last year’s NCAA Tournament. Davis finished with 44 saves, 30 of them coming in the first two periods when DU was outshot 32-8. His play kept the game within reach at 2-0 through 40 minutes.

Aidan Thompson (Jr., Fort Collins, Colo.) finally got the Pioneers on the board early in the third period, following his own blocked shot attempt to find the open net on his second try. Then Jared Wright (Jr., Burnsville, Minn.) stuffed home a rebound on the doorstep with 2:39 left in the third period to send the game into extra time.

“Denver has a championship pedigree,” said WMU coach Pat Ferschweiler (WMU ’93). “They’re going to push and make it hard on you. They’re going to come forward and they have elite players who made some elite plays.

“But we knew over the entirety of the game, I thought we were the better squad,” continued Ferschweiler. “And in that regard, we just believed in ourselves and kept doing what we do, and that’s play Bronco hockey.”

Both teams pushed the pace offensively during the first overtime, and Michaels found the winner just over 80 minutes into the game. Now, the Broncos take a nine-game winning streak into Saturday’s title game with a shot at the program’s first national championship.

Boston University 3, Penn State 1

Box Score

After two years of Frozen Four semifinal heartache, Boston University is sticking around until Saturday.

Jack Hughes (Sr., Westwood, Mass.), Cole Eiserman (Fr., Newburyport, Mass.) and Jack Harvey (So., Stacy, Minn.) provided the goals, while freshman netminder Jack Harvey (So., Stacy, Minn.) (St. Petersburg, Russia) turned aside 32 shots in a 3-1 Terrier victory over Penn State.

Eiserman’s tally midway through the second period – his team-leading 24th of the year – proved to be the decisive goal. Freshman defenseman Cole Hutson (Chicago, Ill.) led Eiserman on a 2-on-1 rush deep into the PSU zone, held the puck until he got to the bottom of the left circle, then centered a pass to Eiserman stationed at the other side of the crease for the tap-in.

The hook-up by the two rookie sensations gave the Terriers a 2-0 and all the offense they would need.

“Whenever 44 (Hutson) has the puck, I’m always expecting to get it,” said Eiserman when asked about Hutson’s last-second pass. “He’s such a great player. He was just looking for an angle. He could’ve went around the net four times, I think he still could’ve found me.”

Penn State’s Nic DeGraves (Fr., Edmonton, Alberta) managed to cut the lead in half with a rebound effort just over two minutes into the third period, but the equalizer never materialized for the Nittany Lions.

Harvey provided the final measure of insurance for BU with an empty-netter in the final minute.

BU is in the national title game for the 12th time and for the first time since 2015.

“We all come here for a reason,” said Hughes. “We want to win a national championship. Just thinking about having the opportunity to do that in a couple of days is exciting. It almost doesn’t feel quite real, because it just ended, but that’s been our goal the whole way.”

Must Read:

Boston Globe: Boston University defeats Penn State to reach championship game

College Hockey News: Michaels’ daily double made the difference for Western Michigan

College Hockey News: Broncos bucked the trend, and took it to Denver

College Hockey News: Owen Michaels Sends Western Michigan to National Championship Game

Kalamazoo Gazette: Frozen Four magic! Michaels’ 2OT game-winner sends WMU to first NCAA final

Kalamazoo Gazette: ‘Lawson Lunatics’ erupt as WMU punches ticket to national championship

NHL.com: Flyers prospect Bump making all-around impact for Western Michigan

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: WMU knocks off defending champion Denver in 2OT in Frozen Four semifinal

The Athletic: Western Michigan defeats Denver in double OT, advances to first national title game

USCHO: Boston University holds off Penn State in Frozen Four, earns elusive spot in championship game

USCHO: ‘Left for dead’ earlier in season, Penn State appreciates run to Frozen Four

USCHO: Michaels scores in OT to send Western Michigan past Denver, into NCAA title game

USCHO: For Western Michigan overtime scorer Michaels, the work has paid off

USCHO: 5 numbers to know from Western Michigan’s Frozen Four victory against Denver

Notebook Quotebook:

“I’m proud of their efforts, their contributions. Carter King, Connor Caponi, Jack Devine and Matt Davis and the guys who were in their class who departed early. They end with two championships, three Frozen Fours and the most wins in Denver hockey history.”

— Denver head coach David Carle (DU ’12) on his senior class (source: College Hockey News).

Fries at the Bottom of the Bag:

Thursday’s goalie duel between BU’s Yegorov and Penn State’s Arsenii Sergeev (Yaroslavl, Russia) marked the first time in history two Russian netminders started a Frozen Four game … Three of the four meetings this season between WMU and DU went to overtime … Today’s semifinal opener marked the first time since 1996 (Colorado College def. Vermont) that a Frozen Four game needed double overtime … Freshman G Hampton Slukynsky (Warroad, Minn.) has been the goalie of record for every victory during WMU’s nine-game winning streak … Eiserman’s 24 goals are the most in the country among freshmen … Former Providence forward Riley Duran (2021-24) made his NHL debut Saturday with the Boston Bruins. He became the 36th college hockey alumni this season to debut in the NHL.

Longest Active Team Winning Streaks:

9 games, Western Michigan (began March 7 at Miami)
3 games, Boston University (began March 27 vs. Ohio State, NCAA first round)

Longest Active Point Streaks (Frozen Four participants):

4 games, D Cole Hutson (Boston University)
- 2-6—8, began March 20 vs. UConn (Hockey East semifinal)
4 games, F Owen Michaels (Western Michigan)
- 2-3—5, began March 22 vs. Denver (NCHC Frozen Faceoff)

Longest Active Goal Streaks (Frozen Four participants):

None

Longest Active Goalie Winning Streaks (Frozen Four participants):

9 games, Hampton Slukynsky (Western Michigan)
- Began March 7 at Miami
3 games, Mikhail Yegorov (Boston University)
- Began March 27 vs. Ohio State (NCAA first round)

College Hockey Inc. Resources:

Did you know? 93% of NCAA Division I men’s hockey players earn their degree!