BOSTON – Michigan has nine men's hockey championships, the most in NCAA history. Denver has eight. On Thursday night, Carter Savoie made sure the Wolverines can't add to that total and gave the Pioneers a chance to match it.
Savoie, rushing toward the slot, took a pass from Bobby Brink, fired a shot on Michigan goalie Erik Portillo, quickly collected the rebound and slammed it home at 14 minutes, 53 seconds of overtime for a 3-2 victory for the Pioneers in the first men's Frozen Four semifinal at TD Garden.
Denver (30-9-1) will playMinnesota State Mankato, which beat the Gophers 5-1 in the other semifinaL, for the national championship at 7 p.m. (Central) Saturday.
Savoie's goal came after Michigan (31-10-1) controlled most of the play in overtime, twice putting the tired Pioneers on their heels because of a pair of early Denver icings. Denver goalie Magnus Chrona kept the game going by making a save on Michigan defenseman Luke Hughes on a two-on-one rush at 13:43, and Savoie's winner came 1:10 later.
"Our group did a really good job of weathering it and not giving up a goal, and we found a way to get the next one in,'' Savoie said.
The Pioneers took a 2-1 lead at 5:36 of the third when Cameron Wright redirected Mike Benning's shot from the point off the left post and in. Michigan, however, answered at 9:09. Mark Estapa blocked a slapshot by Pioneers defenseman Antti Tuomisto that sent Michael Pastujov and Thomas Bordeleau on a rush, with Bordeleau chipping the puck past Chrona.
"Our guys stuck with it and got the job done,'' Denver coach David Carle said.
