The stylistic differences were obvious from the start.

Top-seeded Denver wanted to utilize its skill to initiate its lethal transition game, while fourth-seeded UMass-Lowell wanted to clog the middle of the ice and use its size advantage to wear down the Pioneers.

It took two-plus periods and an odd turn of events, but the Pioneers were able to turn the tide in their favor and emerge with a 3-2 victory in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Regional at Loveland on Thursday night.

Grad transfer Cameron Wright‘s 21st goal of the season was his biggest yet, and it capped a marvelous 2-on-1 with Carter Mazur to give DU the lead for good with just 2:57 remaining.

“It was a great win for us,” DU coach David Carle said of the Pioneers’ first in an NCAA Tournament since their Frozen Four run in 2019. “I’d like to commend Norm (Bazin) and his staff. They didn’t make it easy on us. I credit our players for sticking with it.

“We have not had a lot of these types of games.”

Third period turn of events

Wright’s goal completed a three-goals-in 7:37 sequence after the teams played nearly 50 minutes and combined for just two goals.

The teams took turns tying the score ahead of Wright’s tally, which came when he redirected an area saucer pass from Mazur out of the air past Owen Savory.

Denver took a 2-1 lead with 10:34 to play when Carter Savoie emerged from the neutral zone with the puck, bolted down the right wing on another 2-on-1 with Bobby Brink, held the puck and beat Savory (23 saves) with a laser shot to the far side.

“Mike (Benning) made a nice chip, I saw the D commit to Bob,” Savoie said. “Our goalie coach (Ryan Massa) did a good job on the pre-scout. He said shoot far side, and I got it.”

The play came during a 4-on-4 situation brought on by a delay of game penalty to Mazur (closing hand on puck), and a pair of penalties on a face-off play of all things. Lowell’s Connor Sodergren cross checked Brett Stapley on the head. The frustrated Pioneer then hit Sodergren, who was assessed a minor penalty, with the butt end of his stick. Stapley, however, was handed a major and an early trip the locker room.

The Pioneers (28-9-1) then had to kill off nearly 3 minutes of an all-you-can eat Lowell power play.

Shortly after that was completed, Sodergren of all people, scored the equalizer when a puck caromed through the slot to him on the weak side. He shot quickly enough that Magnus Chrona (16 saves) couldn’t get over to it.

Brett Stapley and his Denver teammates found room to roam difficult to come by against a determined UMass-Lowell team Thursday. Photo courtesy of Justin Tafoya/Clarkson Creative via Denver Athletics

Slowing it down

The River Hawks’ strategy clearly was to try to slow the game and use their size advantage and hitting to plant seeds of doubt in the Pioneers minds. They succeeded in the former, but their tactics and DU’s decided speed advantage led to Lowell having to kill off five penalties, all of which were stick fouls.

After each team had eight shots on goal in the first period, DU outshot UML 20-10 the rest of the way.

The Pioneers, whose speed advantage was clear from the get-go, got an extra hop in their skates when Stapley redirected a left point shot by Justin Lee with 1:24 to go in the first. Stapley was engaged with a Lowell defender at the bottom of the circle to Savory’s right. The goal was Stapley’s 16th.

The River Hawks (21-11-3) took the initial lead midway through the first when captain Lucas Condotta, stationed to Chrona’s left, took an alert pass from Reid Stefanson, who had retrieved a puck below DU’s goal line, and beat Chrona on the short side. It was the senior’s 10th goal.

Frozen Four berth goes through the NCHC

Next up is a familiar foe, Minnesota Duluth, which blanked Michigan Tech, 3-0. It was the Bulldogs’ and junior goalie Ryan Fanti‘s third consecutive shutout, a stretch that started last weekend against the Pioneers at the NCHC’s Frozen Faceoff.

“This was a good lesson to learn,” Wright said. “They play the same was as Duluth, heavy and defensively structured.”

The hope is the glad tidings from Thursday’s win will have some carryover Saturday afternoon.

“(Duluth) is a good hockey team; there are no secrets,” Carle said referring the teams’ five meetings this season. “The experience of playing them last weekend will be beneficial for us.”

Notable: Denver grad student Ryan Barrow played in his 165th career game, second most in program history to Ed Cristofoli‘s 167, which was accomplished from 1985-89.

©First Line Editorial 2022