BOSTON — Thanks to a furious third period, Denver rallied from a goal down to beat Minnesota State 5-1 on Saturday and capture the school’s record-tying ninth national championship.
Trailing 1-0 Denver goaltender Magnus Chrona made a huge stop on Minnesota State defenseman Jake Livingstone at 2:46 of the third to keep the lead to one.
Exactly two minutes later, Ryan Barrow was in the perfect position to catch a rebound and quickly poke it between the legs of Dryden McKay at 4:46 to knot the score at 1-1.
Forty seconds later, Denver drew a tripping penalty and, although the power play didn’t score for Denver, Mike Benning one-timed a shot from the left faceoff dot just seconds after the man advantage ended.
The game had suddenly turned on a dime.
Now sporting a lead, Denver kept its foot on the gas pedal. At 8:33, it appeared Cole Guttman had given the Pioneers a two-goal cushion but the goal was disallowed because Bobby Brink had made contact with McKay in the crease.
At 13:34, Carter Mazur and Massimo Rizzo skated in on a 2-on-1. Once Mazur’s pass made it across the seam, Rizzo had the empty net to bury it.
Brett Stapley’s and Cameron Wright’s empty-net goals with 2:32 and 2:00 remaining, respectively, capped off the wild, five-goal third and gave the Denver faithful plenty to celebrate.
Before the third period explosion, Denver looked near dead, mustering just eight shots through the first 40 minutes.
Minnesota State took a 1-0 lead in the first on the power play.
Julian Napravnik fired a low shot from the left side that bounced to Lucas Sowder in the high slot. Instead of firing a shot, Sowder feathered a pass to Morton, who one-timed the puck glove side past Denver goalie Magnus Chrona.
Denver had a power play of its own at 15:28 when Nathan Smith was sent off for roughing, but the Pioneers couldn’t convert.
In the second, both teams had their chances as the ice opened up a little more and the game got more physical, but neither team could beat the opposing goaltenders.
The nine national championships for Denver ties them with Michigan for most all time.