60 minutes wasn’t enough. 80 minutes wasn’t either. After almost 100 minutes of hockey and nearly four hours after the puck dropped on the NCAA Tournament in the Springfield Regional, top-line center Tristan Broz sent a shot from the high slot past Michael Hrabal to end the double-overtime marathon and send the #1-seeded Denver Pioneers through to the Regional Final with a 2-1 victory over the #4-seeded and regional co-host UMass-Amherst Minutemen at the MassMutual Center in Springfield, Mass. It was far from the Pioneers’ best performance of the season but Matt Davis and DU’s defense stepped up in a huge way when it mattered most.

Coming into the game, it was anyone’s guess which team’s style would win the day. Denver, of course, favored a run-and-gun, wide-open transition style game while UMass-Amherst wanted to duplicate what Western Michigan did so well against the Pioneers earlier this season – clog up the neutral zone and prevent any easy zone entries. Early on, it was clear that the latter was going to prevail and the Pioneers were in for a low-scoring, grind-it-out affair in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Then, to add another layer of frustration to UMass-Amherst’s ability to dictate the game’s style, the Pioneers played one of their sloppiest games since October, fumbling pucks out of the offensive zone and turning the puck over time after time.

But through it all, Matt Davis and his defensive teammates were there to thwart nearly any kind of dangerous look from the Minutemen. Midway through the second period, though, it looked like the Pioneers might be able to turn the game on its head and blow it open. Boston Buckberger scored on a wrister from the top of the right circle thanks to a perfect screen by Connor Caponi and with a 1-0 lead entering the latter half of the game, the Pioneers looked to break the game open and send the Minutemen on their 38-minute drive home.

It was not to be. Almost eight minutes after Buckberger’s goal, UMass-Amherst responded with a gritty goal as Liam Gorman said “look what I found” in the middle of a scrum in front of Davis and tied the game at one.

For the next nearly 70 minutes, the Pioneers and Minutemen traded periodic chances, some close calls, and any number of incredible saves. But Matt Davis and Michael Hrabal turned the game into a goaltender showcase.

Early in the second overtime, with Denver 13 seconds into the only penalty of either overtime period, as Davis attempted to lunge across the crease to make a save, he twisted his left leg awkwardly and went down in a fair amount of pain. As DU head trainer Aaron Leu examined the Pioneers’ netminder, backup Freddie Halyk, who has not played since a 7-3 loss at Western Michigan on December 8th started stretching. The overhead angle of the play clearly made the injury look worse than it was and Davis stayed in the game.

“Just some cramps,” Davis said after the game. “I’m all good. It was a long game, but I’m all good.”

With Davis’ situation attended to, the Pioneers still had a stressful situation at hand – they still had to kill off the remaining 1:47 of Sam Harris’ tripping penalty to keep the game alive. And did they and Davis ever.

The Pioneers used the medical break to compose themselves, get things back on track, and even though it was a stressful few minutes, they got the kill and even generated a two-on-one chance in the waning moments (McKade Webster’s wrister missed the net).

So they’d play on. But it was clear that Davis’ injury and the subsequent successful kill was the turning point in the game the Pioneers desperately needed.

After the kill, the Pioneers started to cycle the puck in the offensive zone with more intent and their possessions finally started to look cleaner. A clearly exhausted UMass-Amherst defensive corps certainly helped open things up but for the first time all game, the Pioneers were starting to look like the Pioneers. And wouldn’t you know it, it resulted in the biggest goal of Tristan Broz’s season to date.

Of course, ESPN’s wildly biased broadcast immediately called for a goaltender interference review on Sam Harris’ perfect screen. The call on the ice stood (Harris’ skates never even entered the crease) and the Pioneers celebrated on the MassMutual Center’s warm, slushy ice for the second time.

As good as Matt Davis was, making 46 saves – a career-high – on 47 UMA shots on goal, there is a lot that his offensive teammates will need to clean up if they’re going to earn a win their rematch with Cornell on Saturday and get back to St. Paul. There were far too many lazy and sloppy plays – too many to blame on the poor ice quality – players weren’t moving their feet nearly enough, and puck pressure was altogether bad.

But this time of year, the name of the game is ‘survive and advance.’ And that’s exactly what the Pioneers did in a game where they weren’t at their best. They dug deep, fought through the bad ice, and leaned on Davis who was the best player on the ice, to earn one more game on Saturday.

Highlights