STREET. PAUL, Minn. — Jared Wright and Rieger Lorenz scored second-period goals, Matt Davis had 35 saves and Denver beat No. 1 seed Boston College 2-0 Saturday night to win the 10th national championship in program history.
No. 3 seed Denver (32-9-3), which finished the season on a nine-game winning streak, surpassed Michigan (nine) for the most titles of all time. Boston College is tied with Boston University (five) for fourth place, behind Wisconsin (six).
Davis had 23 saves in the third period for his third shutout of the season. The junior made his 26th consecutive start, 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 double-overtime victory over Boston University in the semifinals.
After Denver won a faceoff in its defensive zone and quickly pushed it to the left side, Lorenz passed to Wright for a shot that bounced off the near post and then bounced off the back of Boston College goalkeeper Jacob Fowler for over the crossbar before sliding inside the far post to open the scoring with 10:18 left in the second half.
Lorenz made it 2-0 about six minutes later. Zeev Buium drew a pair of defenders, but slipped a pass between them to Lorenz, who fired a wrist shot into the net. Lorenz (16 goals, 14 assists) became the 10th Denver player with at least 30 points this season.
The Pioneers outscored their opponents 82-39 in the second period this season.
“It's a really tough tournament to win because of its single-elimination nature,” Denver coach David Carle said. “You're always trying to get better week after week, month after month, and trying to keep the big picture in mind and not get too high or too low with a regular season game here or there, even though it seems that way at times.
“You try to balance, learn, learn through the whole process.”
Boston College (34-6-1), which set the program's single-season wins record, had its 15-game winning streak snapped and was shut out for the first time since a 1-0 loss at Merrimack on March 11 2023. The Eagles came into the game having outscored their five NCAA tournament opponents 29-8.
“It's obviously a very emotional moment for our entire group,” Eagles forward Ryan Leonard said. “I felt like we were the better team today and a goalie beat us.”
Denver beat Boston College 4-3 in the teams' only regular season meeting in October.
The Pioneers have won at least 30 games in three consecutive 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,” Carle said. “I think the career we're running is a reflection of the people we have.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
