Inside College Hockey | 2004 NCAA Frozen Four

April 8, 2004
NCAA Frozen Four
Pioneer Spirit
Four-goal third period leads Denver into title game

By Joe Gladziszewski

Denver 5, Minnesota Duluth 3
Team	Goal	Str
Time	Assists
First Period
1-MD	Junior Lessard (31)	PP
1:09	T. Brosz, E. Schwabe
2-MD	Tyler Brosz (13)	EV
4:34	T.J. Caig
Second Period
1-DU	Luke Fulghum (13)	EV
11:40	L. Dora , M. Bull
3-MD	Junior Lessard (32)	PP
15:35	E. Schwabe, T. Stapleton
Third Period
2-DU	Gabe Gauthier (18)	EV
2:30	B. Skinner
3-DU	Ryan Caldwell (15)	EV
3:04	L. Fulghum
4-DU	Lukas Dora (14)	EV
8:25	B. Skinner
5-DU	Greg Keith (10)	EN
19:52	C. James
Goaltending
DU: Adam Berkhoel, 60:00, 25 saves, 4 GA
MD: Isaac Reichmuth, 60:00, 27 saves, 3 GA
Penalties: DU 7/14; MD 5/10
Power Plays: DU 0-4; MD 2-6
Attendance: 18,084

BOSTON – With so much hubbub in the Denver media and around the Pioneer team about the early start time for the noon Eastern semifinal (10 a.m. back in Denver), you might say that the Pioneers bought into the hype. But once they arrived, they flourished with a four-goal third period to advance to Saturday's national championship game with a 5-3 win over Minnesota Duluth.

A combination of growing confidence, perseverence, veteran leadership, and good fortune were all factors in the come-from-behind win. Minnesota Duluth scored twice in the first five minutes and also took a 3-1 lead to the third period before Denver rallied.

The scoring splurge began when Gabe Gauthier and Ryan Caldwell scored in a 34 second span early in the third period. The go-ahead goal came from Lukas Dora with 11:35 left to play.

The emotional swings in this game mirrored Denver's regular season. Facing such a large deficit wasn't a problem for the Pioneers.

"Our season has been so up and down and we've been through every situation. We've been up by five and lost in the third, we've been down going into the third and won. This team has pretty much faced everything you can imagine," senior Connor James said.

James, who broke his leg on March 5 against Colorado College, returned to the lineup and played better as the game wore on, also mirroring the Pioneers overall team effort.

"After the first period everyone's kind of 'What's going on?' We were pointing fingers, everyone thinks they're a coach," James said. "We had a pretty good second period and in between the second and third it was just really quiet. No one said much, and right before we went on the ice a couple of guys said we don't want this to be our last game."

Denver's forward trio of Luke Fulghum, who scored the first Pioneer goal with 8:20 left in the second period, along with Dora and Max Bull led the charge. The line, which was put together three weeks ago in the WCHA playoffs against Colorado College, sparked the Pioneers.

Caldwell, the senior captain and defenseman for Denver, heaped praise on his teammates.

"Me as a captain, I have to give all of the credit to Lukas Dora, Max Bull, and Luke Fulghum really set the tempo for our team. That was the best game I've seen those guys play all year. For two seniors and a junior to step up like that it really takes the pressure off everybody. You know they're going to give you all they've got."

Minnesota Duluth came out with more energy, more spark, and grabbed a two-goal lead before the game was five minutes old. Junior Lessard impressively showed why he's a Hobey Baker candidate all game long. He scored the opener on a power play at 1:09 of the first period. Tyler Brosz tallied 4:34 into the game on a shot through traffic after T.J. Caig cleanly won a faceoff.

There were several opportunities for the Bulldogs to put the Pioneers away. UMD had four power play opportunities in the first period, including 49 seconds of a 5-on-3 situation. Denver didn't get much going until the middle portion of the second period. Adam Berkhoel made several key saves at important times to keep his team in the game, including a glove save on a breakaway by Lessard.

Denver's rally overwhelmed the Bulldogs down the stretch, and a last-gasp play where Brosz crashed the net and sent the puck, Berkhoel, and himself into the net was disallowed by referee Conrad Hache and video review, and then explained to Minnesota Duluth coach Scott Sandelin.

"He came over and gave an explanation that you can't push the goaltender in, so that's why you have replay. They're going to make the right call because of that," Sandelin said.

Even though the season ended with a loss, UMD's rapid rise through the WCHA standings and emergence on the national scene over the last four years isn't lost on their coach.

"Where this group of players was, and where they finished, to me I take a lot of pride in that because these are the guys that made that commitment to each other and to this program and really made a huge step for UMD hockey," Sandelin said.

For Denver, the roller coaster ride continues on Saturday night, and with the game starting at 7 p.m. Eastern (5 p.m. in Denver) maybe they won't have such a huge deficit to overcome.