Boston College, Denver advance to national championship game
ST. PAUL, Minn.— Freshman Will Smith had two goals, Cutter Gauthier scored his nation-leading 38th of the season and No. 1 overall seed Boston College beat Michigan 4-0 on Thursday night in the Eagles’ first Frozen Four appearance since 2016.
Boston College (34-5-1) will look to avenge an October loss to Denver when the two teams square off on Saturday 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.
Smith opened the scoring 80 seconds into the game by capitalizing on a 2-on-1. Smith doubled the lead in the second when he curled around the net and sent a shot off two skate blades into the goal. Smith leads the nation with 71 points this season.
Gauthier, the nation’s scoring leader, scored 49 seconds later on a breakaway when he sent a shot under the pads of Jake Barczewski.
Gauthier is tied with Ryan Potulny (Minnesota, 2006) for the most Division I goals in a season since 2000. Mike Donnelly holds the overall record with 59, set in 1986.
Freshman Jacob Fowler secured his third shutout of the season by making 32 saves.
Denver 2, Boston University 1: Tristan Broz scored his second overtime goal of the NCAA Tournament and No. 3 seed Denver beat No. 2 Boston University 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 on Saturday — which would break a tie with Michigan for the most in college hockey history.
Denver has just two losses since the start of February, going 14-2-1 in the last 17 games.
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 wideopen 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 1960-67, while Boston had a four-game winning streak from 1990-99.
It was the second Frozen Four game in a row to reach overtime after Quinnipiac won last season’s national championship game in extra time.*