{"id":92980,"date":"2019-03-30T23:59:20","date_gmt":"2019-03-31T04:59:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/?p=92980"},"modified":"2020-08-24T12:05:57","modified_gmt":"2020-08-24T17:05:57","slug":"down-year-no-such-thing-for-denver-which-beats-american-international-for-ncaa-west-regional-title","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2019\/03\/30\/down-year-no-such-thing-for-denver-which-beats-american-international-for-ncaa-west-regional-title\/","title":{"rendered":"Down year? No such thing for Denver, which beats American International for NCAA West Regional title"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Denver’s Filip Larsson makes one of his 26 saves against American International (photo: Jim Rosvold).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

FARGO, N.D.<\/b> — Turns out the Denver Pioneers had an interesting addition to their already length to-do list when the season started.<\/p>\n

Along with the goal of adding another championship, which they did on Saturday night by beating American International 3-0 at Scheels Arena to capture the NCAA West Regional Championship and earn a trip to the Frozen Four, they were determined to silence the critics who decided that this would prove to be a down season for the Pioneers.<\/p>\n

First-year coach David Carle took offense. So did the players — especially the seniors. So they set out to prove people wrong the best way they know how: by winning hockey games. Big hockey games.<\/p>\n

“At Denver, we try to not be cyclical,” Carle said. “Our standards are really high. Players come here not to play in national tournaments but to win championships and hang banners.”<\/p>\n

Senior forward Jarid Lukosevicius, who had one of Denver’s goals on Saturday, was all smiles after delivering what amounted to an in-your-face rebuke.<\/p>\n

“There were a lot of people who doubted us,” said Lukosevicius, who proceeded to name names. “Even some of our fans didn’t believe in us. But as a core group we believed in each other, and this is what happened. But we’re not done yet.”<\/p>\n

The Pioneers return to the Frozen Four after winning the national championship in 2017. They’ve been to the Frozen Four three times in the past four seasons.<\/p>\n

The 2018-19 version of the Pioneers is built on strong goaltending and defense. The Pioneers (24-11-5) came into the game having held opponents to 2.03 goals per game, ninth best in the country, while averaging 2.9.<\/p>\n

Things were no different in Fargo, as Denver won two games by scoring a total of five goals (two into an empty net) and not allowing any.<\/p>\n

“We weren’t a very good defensive team in October and November,” Carle said, “but the guys committed to each other to be a good defensive team. We were able to continue to get our goals against down.<\/p>\n

“Playing defense isn’t easy. If it was, everyone would be able to do it.”<\/p>\n

Denver freshman goaltender Filip Larsson picked up both shutouts. While he was the star of the game on Friday night against Ohio State, he faced a much lighter workload on Saturday. Still, he did have to make some big saves among the 26 shots he faced.<\/p>\n

Larsson was voted the regional’s most outstanding player.<\/p>\n

Denver broke the scoreless tie at 15:45 of the second period when senior left winger Colin Staub took a pass out of the right corner from Ryan Barrow and beat AIC goaltender Zackarias Skog with a wrist shot from low in the right-wing circle.<\/p>\n

“I didn’t even look at the net,” said Staub, who also scored in the semifinal game. “I was lucky enough that it went in.”<\/p>\n

When Denver left winger Liam Finlay stole the puck in the AIC zone and scored to make it 2-0 at 16:30 of the third period, the writing was on the wall for the Yellow Jackets. Lukosevicius added an empty-net goal for the Pioneers.<\/p>\n

The loss put an end to what turned out to be a historical season for AIC. The Yellow Jackets made the NCAA tournament for the first time in program history and pulled off a huge upset on Friday by beating the top-ranked team in the country, St. Cloud State.<\/p>\n

“I’m proud of this group, I think they’ve changed the landscape of AIC hockey,” said Yellow Jackets coach Eric Lang. “The tough part about this group is that I don’t get to be with them for another couple of weeks. I have been with them since Aug. 30. I haven’t had a bad day since Aug. 30. So I love these guys and just very proud of them.”<\/p>\n

West Regional all-tournament team<\/h4>\n

Forward Joel Kocur, American International
\nForward Liam Finlay, Denver
\nForward Colin Staub, Denver
\nDefenseman Lester Lancaster, Denver
\nDefenseman Brennan Kapcheck, American International
\nGoaltender Filip Larsson, Denver<\/p>\n

Most outstanding player: Goaltender Filip Larsson, Denver<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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