Blake Hillman might be only a freshman, but he wasn't about to make the same mistake twice.
In the second period of Sunday's NCAA West Regional final, the Denver defenseman had gotten open but failed to call out for a pass, earning him a scolding from his coaches.
Hillman got another chance in the third period when he slipped unnoticed into the Ferris State zone. This time, the Elk River native hollered for the puck, collected Danton Heinen's pass and fired a wrist shot from the slot — scoring the winning goal in a 6-3 victory that sent his team to the Frozen Four.
Hillman's tally with four minutes, 32 seconds remaining at Xcel Energy Center broke a 3-3 tie and deflated Ferris State, which gave up two more goals in the final minutes.
Denver (25-9-6) advanced to the Frozen Four for the first time since 2005. It will play National Collegiate Hockey Conference rival North Dakota, the No. 3 overall seed, in the NCAA semifinals April 7 in Tampa, Fla.
Only 25 seconds after Hillman's goal, the Pioneers scored again on a similar play, putting Ferris State (20-15-6) into too deep a hole to escape. Hillman was named the regional's most outstanding player, but he was more excited about Denver's 14th appearance in the Frozen Four.
"I was definitely yelling for that one,'' Hillman said of Heinen's pass from the right boards. "I just kind of blacked out [after the goal]. I'm not much of a goal-scorer.
"I was just happy to get my team out in front. I knew from there, we could finish the game off.''
In his first 36 college games, Hillman scored only one goal. Sunday, with about a dozen family members among the announced crowd of 2,799, he connected for his second of the weekend and assisted on two others.
His third-period goal finally gave Denver an edge in a taut game. The Pioneers outshot Ferris State 15-3 in the opening period, rolling up 10 shots on goal before the Bulldogs finally got their first at 10:45. But Denver came out of it in a 2-2 tie, thanks to Ferris State's opportunism.
The Pioneers struck first on Heinen's power-play goal at 5:34, then the Bulldogs' Gerald Mayhew scored on a breakaway. Dylan Gambrell fired a shot through traffic to put Denver ahead 2-1, only to have the Bulldogs answer again when Corey Mackin banged the puck into the net off Denver defenseman Tariq Hammond.
"I felt like we didn't play well,'' Bulldogs coach Bob Daniels said of the first period. "But it was 2-2, and we took their best punch.
"I felt really good after the second, even though we were down 3-2. I thought we had stabilized. Realistically, I felt good right up until the last five minutes.''
Daniels was uneasy, though, about Denver's ability to win faceoffs and force the Bulldogs to chase the puck. The speedy Pioneers controlled play for extended stretches, and they did not allow Ferris State to generate any sustained pressure on offense.
Trevor Moore's breakaway goal put Denver ahead 3-2 early in the second period. Ferris State's Kyle Schempp tied it at 7:17 of the third, but the Bulldogs — who had been so tenacious throughout the weekend — stumbled after Hillman's goal.
"The next shift, we just let off,'' defenseman Simon Denis said. "We didn't do the things we needed to do in the third. We got caught running around.''
Denver coach Jim Montgomery said the seniors have held Denver together, as it has gone 18-2-4 since a 7-7-2 start to the season. Sunday, he was just as thankful for Hillman and his fellow underclassmen.
"We needed our defensemen to step up and grow,'' Montgomery said. "They haven't missed a beat.''
Local target-blade throwers competing at world championships this weekend
