Photo: Courtesy of Denver Twitter
It was classic playoff hockey and Ohio State blinked first when Les Lancaster scored the the first goal of the game with only 39 seconds left in the 2nd Period. An empty net tally by Colin Staub with 58 seconds left in the game sealed the deal as DU moves into the round of eight.
For the contest, Denver only took 13 shots-on-goal to the Buckeyes 24 shots – but the Pioneers took advantage of their limited opportunities to strike gold.
Filip Larsson was a rock in goal for the Pioneers. The Denver defense pushed the Buckeyes to the corners, blocked shots and pestered the Ohio State forwards. The Pioneers kept Ohio State’s Hobey Baker candidate Mason Jobst off the board and derailed the larger Ohio State team that seemed to run out of gas as the game progressed. In perhaps their best defensive display of the season, Denver only allowed four shots in the final period.
The Buckeyes, Big 10 champions, ended their season with one win in their last eight games. The Buckeyes are loaded with upper-classmen (16 total), while Denver rolls out an under-classmen-heavy squad.
Post-Game Press Conference #PioneerTogether https://t.co/7B9KnCzczl
— Denver Hockey (@DU_Hockey) March 29, 2019
In a season of unexpected surprises, Denver now likely faces #1 St Cloud State University this Saturday evening at 7:00 pm MT. Unless, of course, #16 American International College (AIC) pulls a stunning upset tonight. And what a season it has been for rookie head coach David Carle and the Pioneers, who have earned the right to play the top seed in the NCAA tournament for a chance to go to the Frozen Four.
Add red-hot goalie Filip Larsson, and who knows when this journey may end for Denver.
Sheesh, Twitter sir. Ease up on the false sadness for St Cloud. Doesn’t matter who won. aic (is that their name?) won. So they are officially more dangerous to DU than St. Cloud. All about how DU is playing. And apparently DU is comfortable winning like they are. UNTIL luco gets unleashed, then maybe we change our style of play to offensive juggurnauj.
Tense, gritty, hard-fought victory for DU. This team found a way to win when most of the stats were tilted in OSU’s favor. This Pioneer team, certainly not the most talented out there, has composure, grit, chemistry, and leadership. Those are winning ingredients.
Once again, I would love for DU to have had the puck more and put more pressure on OSU, but the Pios were opportunistic, played well defensively, and got great goaltending. Whatever it takes.
1 down, 3 to go. Go Pios!!!!