ST. PAUL, Minn. — Boston University’s Luke Tech scored short-handed in the first and Denver’s Tristan Lemyre took advantage of a Terriers mistake in the second as BU and Denver were tied through two periods of play in the opening semifinal of the 2024 Men’s Frozen Four.
The Terriers began the game fast as Devin Kaplan was stopped on a one-timer by Denver goaltender Matt Davis just 45 seconds in. Denver didn’t have a shot until 5:50 of the first, but that led to Carter King with a great look on a rebound that BU’s Mathieu Caron stopped.
Seconds later, the Terriers took the game’s first penalty but instead of Denver’s power play capitalizing, BU scored short-handed.
Kaplan flicked a quick pass to Tuch that sent him past the Pioneers defense on a breakaway. Kaplan ripped a shot up high for his first career short-handed goal at 7:45.
Through the middle frame, the Terriers continued to hold a strong territorial advantage but a mental mistake by All-American defenseman Lane Hutson allowed Denver to strike back.
Behind his net, Hutson made a blind pass that was perfectly anticipated by Miko Matikka. He intercepted the puck and fed quickly to a wide-open Lemyre, who fired the puck five-hole on Caron at 15:21 to even the score. The goal came on just the eighth Pioneers shot of the game.
That goal gave Denver life, and the Pioneers hemmed the Terriers in their zone for the remainder of the second. With 23.4 seconds left, it looked as if Aidan Thompson would give the Pioneers their first lead when Davis made a perfect stretch pass to spring a 2-on-1. Appearing to be beat, Caron reached behind him for a glove save that robbed Thompson, sending the game to the third tied at 1.