Boston College, Denver Pave Way for Title Game Clash

SAINT PAUL, Minn. — The 2024 NCAA Frozen Four championship game will be a showcase of the country’s two most potent offensive teams.

Junior Tristan Broz (Bloomington, Minn.) scored midway through overtime in the first of two semifinals at Xcel Energy Center, lifting Denver to a 2-1 victory over Michigan, while freshman G Jacob Fowler (Melbourne, Fla.) pitched a 32-save shutout in the nightcap as Boston College blanked Michigan 4-0.

It sets up a clash between the only two teams in Division I men’s hockey averaging better than four-and-a-half goals per game.

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Denver and Boston College met head-to-head back in October, a 4-3 win for visiting DU, but it will mark the first time these two storied programs will meet in the national championship game.

Saturday’s national title game is set for 5 p.m. CT on ESPN2 and ESPN+. It will also be streamed live in Canada on TSN+. Westwood One will provide the radio broadcast.

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Denver 2, Boston University 1 (ot):

The highest-scoring team in men’s college hockey suddenly looks very comfortable playing in 2-1 games.

Broz’s overtime goal midway through the extra session gave the Pioneers a third consecutive 2-1 victory in the NCAA Tournament after having previously gone the entire season without playing in a 2-1 game.

In fact, it’s the first time in school history DU has logged three straight 2-1 wins.

For the Minnesota-born-and-raised Broz, it was a stirring homecoming. The former University of Minnesota transfer took a Sean Behrens (Jr., Barrington, Ill.) feed in the offensive zone and beat BU netminder Mathieu Caron (Jr., Abbotsford, British Columbia) five-hole at 11:09 of overtime, sending the Pioneers to Saturday’s title game.

It was Broz’s 15th goal and 40th point, increasing his career highs in both categories.

“We ran that drill yesterday, doing 2-on-1s, and a few times I scored, just kind of no-look, trying to shoot five-hole,” said Broz. “And [tonight] I just kind of blacked out in that moment and [it] happened to go in.

“I think that’s…