Sports

Denver beats Wisconsin in OT, grabs final spot in Final Five

Nick Shore's goal early in overtime enabled the Pioneers to advance.

By Roman Augustoviz

March 12, 2012 at 7:09AM

The field is set for the Final Five this weekend at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.

Denver is the sixth team to advance. The Pioneers beat Wisconsin 3-2 in OT in Denver on Sunday night to win their best-of-three, first round WCHA playoff series in three games. Next they will play Michigan Tech at 2:07 p.m. Thursday in the first quarterfinal.

Luke Salazar of DU scored the game-winner on a wrap-around at 1 minute, 40 seconds of the overtime.

For the DenverPost story go here. The Wisconsin State Journal story is here.

Wisconsin took leads of 1-0 and 2-1 in the second period. Sophomore center Mark Zengerle gave the Badgers a 1-0 lead on a shorthanded goal.

Ty Loney of DU tied it at 1-1 on a rebounds. But shortly after, the Badgers again took the lead at 2-1 when Tyler Barnes, a former Burnsville High standout, scored.

Nick Shore of the Pioneers tied the score again on a rebound goal early in the third period on a power. DU outshot the Badgers 33-26.

"If you look at where we came from from the beginning of the year, we've come miles," said junior defenseman Justin Schultz said of the Badgers' season. "If we did have a couple more games, we'd be a dominating force."

The Badgers split with the Gophers on the last weekend of the regular season at Mariucci.

"It's a terrific feeling anytime you can win a playoff game or a playoff series and this series was extended right to the limit," DU coach George Gwozdecky said. "Sam (Brittain) did not have a very auspicious start tonight. Both goals were goals that he knows he stops 99 out of 100. But, we had to continue to fight back.

"Our power play finally scored a goal against these guys and it couldn't have come at a better time. From that point, everyone is biting their nails, waiting to see who is going to make the big play."

Drew Shore, Nick's brother, had assists on all three DU goals and now has 50 points on 21 goals and 29 assists.

* The Badgers are now 0-11-18 in overtime games against WCHA teams since the 2007-08 season. Maybe that's why Wisconsin seemed so anxious to be part of the new Big Ten Conference?

Here are the pairings:

FINAL FIVE

At Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul

Thursday's quarterfinals

Michigan Tech (16-18-4, sixth seed after re-seeding) vs. Denver (23-12-4, third seed), 2:07 p.m.

St. Cloud State (17-16-5, fifth seed) vs. North Dakota (22-12-4, fourth seed), 7:07 p.m.

Friday's semifinals

Mich Tech/DU winner vs. Minnesota Duluth (24-8-6, second seed), 2:07 p.m.

SCSU/UND winner vs. Gophers (26-12-1, first seed), 7:07 p.m.

Saturday's championship for Broadmoor Trophy

Friday's winners, 7:07 p.m.

WANT TO GO?

Tickets are still available for the Final Five, according a WCHA release issued late Sunday, and can be purchased thru the Xcel Energy Center box office , Ticketmaster Ticket Centers, charge by phone at 800-745-3000 or online at www.ticketmaster.com.

To charge by phone using Ticketmaster TDD/TTY, call 800-359-2525.