DU IN FROZEN FOUR
Terry propels Pioneers to Chicago
cincinnati» Troy Terry was at it again Sunday. Just two months after playing a starring role in the United States’ gold medal performance at the world junior championship for the under-20 Americans, Terry led the Denver Pioneers to the Frozen Four.
Terry, the 19-year-old from Highlands Ranch and Rock Canyon High School, was sensational in leading top-ranked DU to a 6-3 victory over Penn State in the NCAA Midwest Regional at the U.S. Bank Center and a return trip to the Frozen Four next month in Chicago.
The sophomore forward had a hand in five Denver goals, scoring three, as the top-seeded Pioneers overwhelmed the young Nittany Lions in the regional championship game and first-ever contest between
the schools.
“I just try to stick to what’s given me success this year — moving my feet and staying in the moment,” Terry said. “I just try to bear down when I get chances and, like I said, stay in the moment.”
Denver (31-7-4), the NCAA Tournament’s No. 1 overall seed, will play Notre Dame (23-11-5) in the April 6 national semifinals at the United Center. The Fighting Irish upset UMass Lowell in overtime Sunday. Minnesota Duluth (27-6-7) and Harvard (28-5-2) won regional championships Saturday night and will meet in the other semifinal in Chicago.
Penn State, which played in its first-ever NCAA Tournament in just its fifth season of Division I hockey, finished 25-12-2.
“They gave us everything we could handle,” DU coach Jim Montgomery said of the Lions. “But it’s nice to go back to the Frozen Four for the second year in a row. I think the experience of last year is going to help us immensely.
“Last year I was in cloud nine and our team didn’t come down from cloud nine until the Saturday coming up. Right now I’m not on cloud nine; I’m already starting to think about Notre Dame. The experience of having been there, you’re just hungrier to go further and finish it off.”
The Pioneers, who lost to eventual national champion North Dakota in the Frozen Four semifinals a year ago in Tampa, Fla., scored on their first two shots Sunday but quickly blew a 2-0 lead. They found themselves in a dogfight early in the second period when Penn State’s Denis Smirnov scored with a shot off DU defenseman Michael Davies to tie it 2-2.
“We didn’t get down on our bench. When they made it 2-2, we had a great response there,” DU senior center Matt Marcinew said. “We just kept to the process, and that’s won us games all year.”
Terry scored a power-play goal 6:30 into the period, assisted on Jarid Lukosevicius’ goal at 15:40 and then scored again at 18:52 to give the Pioneers a commanding 5-2 lead after two periods.
DU went unscathed after junior defenseman Tariq Hammond was assessed a five-minute minor and game misconduct for checking from behind just 26 seconds into the final frame. The Pioneers’ penalty killers were perfect against the country’s No. 2-rated offense.
“Our penalty kill was amazing tonight, in all three zones,” Marcinew said. “Killing that major was a huge turning point. That gave us momentum for the rest of the game.”
Terry wasn’t the only offensive star. Lukosevicius had two goals — both off Terry passes — and freshman Henrik Borgstrom had three assists in his best postseason game. Borgstrom got the primary assist on two of Terry’s goals, the latter on a 2-on-1 rush to complete Denver’s 3-0 run.
Penn State freshman defenseman James Gobetz scored late in the third period for his first career point, but DU shut the door the rest of the way and Terry scored an empty-net goal. Junior goalie Tanner Jaillet improved to 26-5-4 on the season for DU.
“We have a resilient group, a close group, and the guys just stuck with the process and kept at it,” DU captain Will Butcher said.
“We just believe in our team and what’s given us success all year,” Terry said.