Captain Kent sends Denver to National Title with double overtime winner

Last April in St. Louis, the Denver Pioneers had their season end in double overtime in the Frozen Four semifinals against Western Michigan. Thursday night at T-Mobile Arena, they got their redemption in the same fashion.

Senior captain Kent Anderson fired a wrister from the high slot near side to beat Michigan goaltender Jack Ivankovic 12:35 into the second overtime, giving Denver a 4-3 victory against the No. 1-overall seed Wolverines and sending the Pios to Saturday’s national championship game against Wisconsin. It was just the second goal of the season for Anderson — and it made for one heck of a comeback win against a Pios team that was hemmed in their own zone much of the night.

“Couldn’t have done it without Johnny Hicks,” Anderson told ESPN after the game. “Stood in there all night, made some saves he probably shouldn’t have, and we couldn’t do this without him.”

Hicks, the freshman from Kamloops, British Columbia, was the story of the night. He stopped 49 of 52 Michigan shots — 52! — including a jaw-dropping robbery of Garrett Schifsky on a rebound chance five minutes into the first overtime. Hicks, who is unbeaten in the 16 games he’s had in net since becoming DU’s starter, simply would not let the game, nor the season end.

“He’s a battler, he never quits, he was our best player tonight,” head coach David Carle told ESPN.

JOHNNY "ON THE SPOT" HICKS KEEPS DENVER ALIVE IN OT 😱 pic.twitter.com/uid1NNP7iz

— ESPN (@espn) April 10, 2026

Denver struck first when Kyle Chyzowski scored 9:29 into the opening period, but Michigan answered with two goals in 59 seconds late in the frame — Josh Eernisse and Hobey Baker finalist TJ Hughes giving the Wolverines a 2-1 lead after one. Cale Ashcroft tied it early in the second off feeds from Sam Harris and Clarke Caswell, and the game settled into a tense grind.

The Pios had chance after chance on the power play — going 0-for-4 into the third period — but couldn’t cash in. Then, midway through the third, DU took a stupid cross-checking penalty after the whistle, its first infraction of the game. Michigan’s top-ranked power play made them pay immediately. Jayden Perron ripped a wrister from the point that Hicks never saw through traffic to make it 3-2 Wolverines.

It looked bleak. But with 2:46 left and freshmen cycling the puck, Caswell tipped a poor-angle shot past Ivankovic to make threes wild — just before Denver would have needed to pull its goalie. It was the second time the Pios had come back to equalize.

The first overtime was chaos. Denver dominated early, then hit the crossbar on a one-timer from the slot 12 minutes in. Boston Buckberger went down late in the period after getting stepped on by Will Horcoff, bleeding badly. Sam Harris took a tripping penalty with 1:31 left, and Denver limped to double OT with 29 seconds of penalty to kill.

The Pios killed it. Then they just kept surviving a Wolverines onslaught while both teams were as fatigued as heavyweights in the 15th round of a fight in Vegas

Then Kristian Epperson found Anderson in the high slot, and the captain buried it.

Kent Anderson. That’s it, that’s the tweet.#GoPios pic.twitter.com/GSz8FSzmhD

— Denver Hockey (@DU_Hockey) April 10, 2026

DU made the most of their 26 shots thanks to Anderson’s perfect timing and Hicks’ amazing play.

Four years ago in Boston, Denver beat Michigan 3-2 in overtime in the Frozen Four and went on to win its ninth national title. Now the Pios get a shot at No. 11 on Saturday on ESPN and on 104.3 The Fan.

As for the postgame celebration? It was brief. Carle had other concerns.

“The hotel told us we don’t get back by 10:45 we don’t get to eat, so we need to get the hell out of here.”

David Carle: "The hotel told us if we don't get back by 10:45 we don't get to eat so we need to get the hell out of here"

— CJ Fogler (@cjzero.bsky.social) 2026-04-10T04:55:12.066Z

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