Editor’s note: This story has been updated to confirm the 3:08 p.m. start time of the Friday semifinal game.
Junior Ty Loney broke up a scoreless deadlock on a goal with 13:44 left in regulation to lift the University of Denver hockey team to a 2-0 win over Omaha in the decisive third game of a best-of-three NCHC first round playoff series at CenturyLink Arena on Saturday night.
The victory punches the Pioneers’ ticket to the inaugural NCHC Frozen Faceoff at the Target Center this week in Minneapolis. Denver will play Western Michigan in the conference semifinals at 3:08 p.m. MDT on Friday, March 21, with the winners squaring off on Saturday, March 22, for the NCHC title and an automatic berth in the 2014 NCAA Division I Hockey Championship.
Senior goalie Sam Brittain was a huge factor in Denver being able to edge out the victory as he finished with 34 saves and erased four breakaway opportunities for Omaha with one outstanding stop after another, frustrating the Mavericks’ skaters all evening long.
“Tonight I thought was our worst team game of the year of the series, but when you have the best goalie in country in Sam Brittain, and he stops four breakaways and three two-on-ones, you have a pretty good chance to win,” DU head coach Jim Montgomery said. “Once we settled down after the beginning of the first period, we played better positionally and managed the ice better.”
All of the Pioneers’ postseason games will also be broadcast live on Denver’s 102.3 FM ESPN Radio. In addition, both of Friday’s NCHC semifinal showdowns, as well as Saturday’s championship, will be broadcast nationally on CBS Sports Network.
Read more about Saturday’s game at DenverPioneers.com.