Friday at the Regionals: Denver and Western will meet again
Plus: Michigan and UMD advance in Albany
Denver and Western Michigan will meet again tomorrow in Loveland with a trip to the Frozen Four on the line. Meanwhile, in Albany, Michigan got past Bentley, and Minnesota Duluth ended Penn State’s season.
Here’s a recap of everything that happened on Friday night in the regionals.
Loveland Regional
Western Michigan 3, Minnesota State 1: Western Michigan seized control early and never relinquished it, building a two-goal lead in the opening period.
Zaccharya Wisdom and Zach Bookman struck in the opening minutes to give the Broncos immediate momentum.
Minnesota State pushed back in the third, as Alex Zetterberg cut the deficit to one with an early goal, but the Broncos absorbed the pressure and closed it out. Owen Michaels sealed the win with an empty-netter.
“The more you possess, the more you have it, that’s the best defense in hockey,” WMU coach Pat Ferschweiler said.
Minnesota State’s season still ends with hardware, as the Mavericks captured the CCHA championship last week. There were questions about the program’s trajectory following Mike Hastings’ departure to Wisconsin, but Luke Strand has kept the program squarely in the national picture.
“I’m grateful to be at Minnesota State, I’m grateful to serve these players and this program,” Strand said. “I’m a very relational coach; I’m going to miss the guys that are leaving. But what they’ve done and left behind for us to learn and grow from is elite. We have to learn internally, getting here is one thing and moving on is another thing.”
Denver 5, Cornell 0: Denver delivered a complete performance in its win over Cornell.
Johnny Hicks was sharp once again, turning aside all 24 shots he faced.
“I thought we were excellent from the first drop of the puck,” DU coach David Carle said. “Our speed was there with and without the puck. I thought the guys executed at a really high level.”
The Pioneers showcased their depth, getting goals from five different players.
“We hadn’t played a team that had 38 goals from the defense corps before,” Cornell coach Casey Jones said. “I’ll be honest, that is, like, three times as much as most teams. And it comes off No. 23 (Eric Pohlkamp) and it comes off No. 9 (Boston Buckberger). They get pucks down to the net. They’re hard to defend.”
Albany Regional
Michigan 5, Bentley 1: The Wolverines advanced to the regional final, but the margin on the scoreboard masked a far tighter contest. Michigan held a 29–25 edge in shots, while Bentley finished just minus-1 in expected goals.
The difference was execution.
Michigan capitalized on its opportunities and punished mistakes. T.J. Hughes scored his 21st goal of the season, Jack Ivankovic turned aside 24 shots, and Jayden Perron chipped in with two assists to pace the win.
“There were some situations in which, late in the period, that they took advantage of that were big plays, and that’s a lethal group of players,” Bentley coach Andy Jones said. “They take a small crack, and they drive right through it, and they were opportunistic tonight.”
Minnesota Duluth 3, Penn State 1: Penn State grabbed the early lead on a goal from Shea Van Olm, but Minnesota Duluth methodically took control as the game progressed.
Max Plante pulled the Bulldogs even late in the first period with his 25th goal of the season. The breakthrough came in the third, when Hunter Anderson converted off a turnover by Gavin McKenna, who attempted a backhand pass in transition that never connected. Anderson made no mistake, burying the chance with 5:13 remaining.
Ty Hanson added an empty-net goal to seal it.
In net, Adam Gajan delivered a composed 29-save performance for UMD, which now advances to face Michigan in Sunday’s regional final.
“You never know what to expect right in these games, and a lot of them end up turning out that way,” UMD coach Scott Sandelin said. “Just glad it turned out in our favor, but our guy was good, their guy was good, and that’s what you need to win games this time of year. You need really good goaltending.”
This is issue #667 of the College Hockey Insider newsletter.
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