ST. PAUL, Minn. – Jared Wright and Rieger Lorenz scored second-half goals, Matt Davis had 35 saves and Denver beat overall No. 1 seed Boston College 2-0 on Saturday night to win its 10th national championship in the tournament. program history.
No. 3 seed Denver (32-9-3), which finished the season on a nine-game winning streak, edged Michigan (nine) for most all-time titles. Boston College is tied with Boston University (five) for fourth place, behind Wisconsin (six).
Davis had 23 saves in the third period in his third game of the season. The youngster made his 26th consecutive shutout, the longest streak of his career, and stopped 68 of the 69 shots he faced in the Frozen Four. Davis had 33 saves in the Pioneers’ 2-1 dual win over Boston University in the semifinals.
After Denver won the faceoff in its defensive zone and quickly pushed the ball up the left wing, Lorenz passed to Wright whose shot went wide of the near post and bounced off the back of goalkeeper Jacob Fowler. Boston College above the crossbar before sliding into the far post to open the scoring with 10:18 left in the second period.
Lorenz made it 2-0 about six minutes later. Zeev Buium drew a pair of defenders but passed between them to Lorenz, who fired a wrist shot into the net. Lorenz (16 goals, 14 assists) became the 10th Denver player to score at least 30 points this season.
The Pioneers have outscored opponents 82-39 in the second half this season.
“This is a really tough tournament to win because of its single-elimination nature,” Denver coach David Carle said. “You always try to get better each week, each month and try to keep the big picture in mind and not get too high, too low with a routine here or there, even though it feels like that. sometimes.
“You try to stay grounded, learn, learn along the way.”
Boston College (34-6-1), which set a program record for wins in a season, had its 15-game winning streak snapped and was eliminated for the first time since a 1-0 loss against Merrimack on March 11, 2023 The Eagles entered the game having outscored their five NCAA tournament opponents 29-8.
“Obviously this is an emotional time for our whole group,” Eagles forward Ryan Leonard said. “I felt like today we were the best team and we were beaten by the goalkeeper.”
Denver defeated Boston College 4-3 in the only regular-season game between the teams in October.
The Pioneers have won at least 30 games in three straight seasons.
“It’s a total team effort to do what we do in Denver. And [I’m] “I’m really proud of the whole program. I think the journey we’re on is a reflection of the people we have,” Carle said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
