The drought is over for the Denver Pioneers. The team that once appeared in seven championships over a twelve year span, winning five of them, had been shut out of the title game for over 30 years. But the gritty Pioneers were not to be denied again, triumphing over the nation’s No. 1 team, the Maine Black Bears, 1-0 in the title game.
Denver goalie and the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player Adam Berkhoel was stellar in the win, turning aside 24 Maine shots and shutting down Maine’s power play unit on seven opportunities. The rest of the Denver players also chipped in with a little defense of their own, blocking 27 shots en route to the Pioneers’ first championship since 1969.
Denver’s scoring leader Gabe Gauthier scored the game’s only goal, on the power play, during the first period when he took a pass in the slot and beat Maine goalie Jim Howard. Maine had an apparent goal taken away earlier in the period when the automatic review showed that a Maine player had entered the crease before the puck.
Despite the loss, Howard set new single season NCAA records for goals-against average (1.19) and save percentage (.956). The records were previously held by Cornell’s Dave LeNeveu and Michigan State’s Ryan Miller.
Denver’s road to the title was an accomplishment. They triumphed over North Dakota, Minnesota-Duluth and Maine, three teams that were, at one point in the season, ranked the top three in the nation.
In the semifinal game, Denver scored four third-period goals to rally over the Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs and Hobey Baker winner Junior Lessard, 5-3. Lessard scored two goals in the game, but was denied by Berkhoel in the third on a play that would have given him the hat trick, and put the Bulldogs up by three.
Maine’s tenacious defense overcame Boston College’s high-powered offense in the other semifinal, winning 2-1 as Howard turned aside 40 shots. Maine also defeated Harvard and Wisconsin on their way to the title game.
