DENVER, Colo. — No. 3/3 Denver took the lead in the opening minute of the game and never trailed in a 7-2 win over the Miami University hockey team Saturday night. The top-seeded Pioneers (30-8-0) advance to the NCHC Frozen Faceoff after their second consecutive win in this weekend's best-of-three quarterfinal series. Ryan Savage and Artur Turansky scored for the RedHawks, who end the year at 8-24-4.
 
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• 0:36 1st (Denver 1-0) | The Pioneers got on the board in the first minute of the contest. Casey Dornbach took a pass from Aidan Thompson to start a quick 2-on-1 and took the shot himself to open the scoring. Carter Mazur also had an assist on the play.
• 2:37 1st (Denver 2-0) | Two minutes later, Thompson won a race to the puck after passes from Dornbach and Kyle Mayhew. Thompson worked himself free with a shot fake to elude a pair of diving Miami defensemen and score past Ludvig Persson.
• 3:24 1st (Denver 3-0) | The Pioneers lit the lamp a third time 47 seconds later. Shai Buium skated the puck behind the Miami cage and fired a shot that bounced loose near the net. Tyler Haskins and Owen Ozar were both jamming at the rebound, with Ozar ultimately knocking it in to make it 3-0.
• 6:11 1st (Miami 3-1) | The RedHawks cut into the deficit with a goal on their first power play opportunity of the night. Max Dukovac took a feed from Alex Murray and ripped a shot that was blocked right back to him. Dukovac's second attempt fell to Ryan Savage, who deposited it inside the right goalpost to trim the DU lead to 3-1.
• 18:24 1st (Denver 4-1) | Denver restored its three-goal lead on a power play late in the period. Mayhew took a pass from Carter King in the middle and slid it to Buium on his right. Buium was able to get a shot off that Chase Pletzke just barely missed blocking. It slipped through to extend the home team's lead to 4-1.
• 4:49 2nd (Denver 5-1) | The Pios converted another power-play chance in the second period. From the top of the zone, Mayhew found King on the right side of the goal, with King sending a pass across the crease that Tristan Lemyre tapped in on the back side.
• 8:16 2nd (Denver 6-1) | Denver extended its lead later in the middle frame, as Lemyre looped a high pass from his own blue line that dropped perfectly to Lucas Olvestad behind the RedHawks' defense for a quick finish.
• 16:06 2nd (Miami 6-2) | Miami picked up its second goal late in the second period, as Turansky won a battle for the puck along the boards in the middle of the rink. Turansky sent a pass up to Matthew Barbolini at the blue line, who weaved his way through a trio of DU defenders and managed to return the puck to Turansky for a blast that pulled Miami within 6-2.
• 18:58 3rd (Denver 7-2) | Jack Devine finished the scoring with just over a minute to play, as Mayhew got tripped up and poked the puck across to Devine in a delayed-penalty situation. Devine was able to gain the zone and get a shot off that got past Logan Neaton.

 
NOTES

• Barbolini's assist was his team-leading 25th point of the season (10-15-25).
• Murray was credited with a career-high three shots on goal.
• Turansky scored his first goal since Dec. 31.
• Ryan Savage's goal gives him 24 in his RedHawk career.
• Dukovac picked up a point for the third consecutive game.
• Neaton stopped 12 of the 13 shots he faced in relief.
• Pletzke made his 100th career appearance for the Red and White.
• Miami won 30 faceoffs to Denver's 28, with Blake Mesenburg capturing seven of eight draws.
• Persson finished the season with 891 saves, which ranks sixth all-time on Miami's single-season list.

 
UP NEXT:
This concludes Miami's season.