Matthew Mistretta ’28
Staff Writer
This year’s NCAA Hockey Tournament was nothing short of CHAOS from start to finish. Only ONE of the top four seeds going into the tournament advanced to the Frozen Four, with four overtime matchups in the first two rounds. When we arrived in St. Louis, only four teams remained.
In the first of the two games, last year’s national champions and #9-ranked Denver took on Western Michigan. Denver had the experience—this being their 34th playoff appearance (including 15 times in the last 16 years) and their 18th Frozen Four. This was Western Michigan’s first appearance in the Frozen Four, and until this season, they were 1-10 all-time in NCAA tournament play. However, the Broncos took control of the Fargo Region, squeaking past Minnesota State and Mike Richter finalist Alex Tracy in the first round, and defeating UMass 2-1 in the second.
WMU dominated play in the first two periods, outshooting the Pios 32-8 and holding a comfortable 2-0 lead. But a late surge from Denver had them tied up with under four minutes left. The game went into double overtime, with both squads getting competitive chances. At the start of double OT, the Broncos caught Denver on the rush, where Owen Michaels received a clean look in the slot. He placed the puck in the top left for his second goal of the game and gave Western Michigan a victory over the defending national champs.
On the other side of the bracket, Boston University—winners of five national titles and 24 Frozen Four appearances—took on the “Cinderella run” that was the Penn State Nittany Lions. A four-seed in their region and taking on #3 Maine, State College massacred them in a 5-1 victory. To follow it up, they eked past UConn in a quarterfinal overtime win to earn their first-ever Frozen Four berth.
BU was able to create plenty of chances against Penn State, with Jack Hughes (no, not that Jack Hughes) scoring just 1:35 into the second period to put them up 1-0. The Terriers continued to look strong, killing two power plays and netting another to go up 2-0. Penn State came out aggressive in the third, however, with more than half of their 33 shots coming in the game’s final frame. After Nicholas DeGraves slotted home a rebound coming through the slot, it was a one-goal game with much of the third period remaining. With neither squad able to break through, BU sophomore Jack Harvey put away the empty-net goal to seal a 3-1 win and send the Terriers to their 12th National Title Game. The championship match was set: BU vs. Western Michigan.
The Broncos controlled much of the play for the first two periods, and their scoring depth was on display: not one of their seven top scorers netted a goal as they built a 3-1 lead. However, they were unable to pull away and led just 3-2 following a BU power-play goal—their seventh in their last eight games. At 7:16 in the third, the aforementioned Bronco Owen Michaels lit the lamp on a 2-on-1 chance following continuous pressure from BU for several minutes, which essentially put the Terriers to bed. Michaels, who also scored an empty-netter, had four goals in the Frozen Four and was named the Most Outstanding Player in the tournament.
The Broncos won by a score of 6-2, earning the school’s first national title in any sport since 1965. They also became the first program to win a national championship in their Frozen Four debut since Lake Superior State in 1988.
Featured image courtesy of NCAA
Copy Edited by Annamaria DeCamp ’27
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