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Pioneers punch Frozen Four ticket, double up Penn State 6-3

Mar 27, 2017, 12:00 AM | Updated: 11:00 am

In each season under head coach Jim Montgomery, the Denver Pioneers men’s hockey squad has not only made the NCAA tournament but progressed in year.

Year one, the Pios won the NCHC tournament to earn a trip but failed to make it out of the first round. The following season, Denver earned its first tournament win with Montgomery behind the bench before being bounced in the regional finals.

Last season, it was Montgomery and company’s first Frozen Four. And Sunday, the Pioneers punched their tickets once again, this time with a little more experience.

“It’s nice to be going back to the Frozen Four for the second year in a row, and I think the experience of last year is going to help us immensely in our preparation,” Montgomery said in a post-game press conference.

Denver doubled up the Penn State Nittany Lions, 6-3, on the stick of Troy Terry, whose last-minute empty-netter earned him a hat trick.

“We just believe in our team, and what’s given us success all year,” Terry said in a post-game press conference.

It was a fitting finish to the quarterfinals for a squad ranked atop the collegiate hockey world for much of the 2016-2017 season.

However, the win did not come without its adversity.

The Pioneers skated out to a 2-0 lead midway through the first period, but a late short-handed goal from Nikita Pavlychev pulled the Nittany Lions within one.

Denver would surrender the lead quickly at the start of the second period after Penn State’s Denis Smirnov put one past Mike Richter Award finalist Tanner Jaillet.

But just four minutes later, Terry scored his first of two second period goals on the way to the Pio’s three-unanswered in the rest of the period.

From that point on, the Nittany Lions wouldn’t come within two goals of Denver.

“We have a resilient group, a close group, and the guys just stuck with the process and kept at it,” said Pioneers defenseman and Hobey Baker Award finalist Will Butcher.

With the win, Montgomery notched his 100th career win, becoming just the fourth coach in program history to reach the mark and first within his first four seasons, according to the university’s website.

Denver will face off against Notre Dame in the semifinal round at the United Center in Chicago on April 6 at 7:30 p.m. Click here for more information.

Follow digital content producer Johnny Hart on Twitter: @JohnnyHart7.

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