Denver Takes Third at Frozen Faceoff

ST. PAUL – Two goals and two assists from Ian Mitchell and two goals from Liam Finlay helped the fifth-ranked Denver Pioneers salvage third place in the NCHC Frozen Faceoff with a 6-1 victory over the Colorado College Tigers.

Trey Bradley had a first-period goal for the Tigers, who fell just short of an improbable NCAA Tournament bid after a 5-2 loss to St. Cloud State on Friday night in the tournament semifinals. Alex Leclerc stopped 23 Pioneers shots.

Devin Cooley got the start in net for Denver, and he made 22 saves.

The Pioneers moved up to #6 in the Pairwise rankings with the victory, and they will be a #2 seed in the NCAA Tournament when the bracket is revealed on Sunday night.

Scoring summary:

First period:

DU goal at 5:49: Jarid Lukosevicius (18). Assisted by Emilio Pettersen (22).

CC power-play goal at 15:01: Trey Bradley (15). Assisted by Mason Bergh (21) and Christiano Versich (1).

Second period:

DU power-play goal at 8:29: Ian Mitchell (5). Assisted by Les Lancaster (5) and Pettersen (23).

DU goal at 9:28: Liam Finlay (14). Assisted by Michael Davies (10) and Brett Stapley (13).

Third period:

DU goal at :27: Mitchell (6). Assisted by Finlay (20) and Tyson McLellan (8).

DU goal at 5:37: Finlay (15). Assisted by McLellan (9) and Mitchell (20).

DU goal at 12:11: McLellan (3). Assisted by Stapley (14) and Mitchell (21).

Power plays: CC 1-4, DU 1-5.

Shots on goal: CC 23, DU 29.