ST. PAUL, Minn. –- It’s pretty safe to say Western Michigan forward Alex Bump had a great time playing back in the arena where he already knew how to light up a scoreboard.
Bump’s second goal of the night and third of the weekend capped a brilliant tournament for both him and his Broncos, who roared back from a three-goal third-period deficit for a thrilling 4-3 victory in double overtime over the Denver Pioneers at Xcel Energy Center, clinching their first Frozen Faceoff championship.
“Yeah, I’ve scored a couple goals here,” Bump laughed. “It’s nothing new, but it’s always fun.
“It’s always great to come back and play in front of a bunch of friends and family.”
Going back to his high school days in nearby Prior Lake, all Bump has been doing is scoring goals in St. Paul. He had a total of seven in a previous state tournament appearance there over three games, and his impressive performance this weekend earned him most outstanding player honors and made Western Michigan just the second team in the NCHC’s 12-year history to win both the regular season and tournament championships in the same season – North Dakota did it in 2020-21.
“I’m just so proud of this group,” said Broncos coach Pat Ferschweiler. “We hung in there, and then I thought we took the game over at the end.
“That is a huge hill to climb, 3-0 down to Denver in the third; that’s such a great hockey team, and they’re so dangerous.”
Jake Fisher, Eric Pohlkamp and Zeev Buium all scored in succession in less than five minutes halfway through regulation to give Denver a three-goal lead, but unfortunately the three-time Frozen Faceoff winners could not make the lead stand and they failed to become the conference’s first repeat tournament champions.
“We looked a little tired in overtime,” said Pioneers coach David Carle. “But we’ll turn the page. We’ll make sure that our bodies are ready to go for Friday.”
Over most of the first 30 minutes of regulation, both teams played very good defense and clogged passing lanes up and down the ice.
Then the floodgates opened with three goals in a span of 4:41 for the Pioneers.
Fisher opened the scoring by putting home a backdoor rebound, then it was Pohlkamp wristing one home from the high slot after a nice drop pass from Rieger Lorenz to double the lead. Then Buium, a first-round draft pick of the hometown Minnesota Wild last year, made a sensational play at the blue line to stop a Broncos clearing attempt before skating in down the slot and beating Hampton Slukynsky stick-side out in front at 10:27. Just like that, it was a 3-0 lead for the defending Frozen Faceoff and national champions.
Who knew the chaos was just getting started?
With Denver starting to dial it back and play a little more defensive, Western Michigan finally got on the board in the opening minutes of the third period as Liam Valente found Zack Sharp on a nice cross-ice pass between the circles and Sharp finished it for his fifth goal, giving the NCHC regular-season champs some life.
Then with 6:41 to go, an offensive faceoff zone win by Owen Michaels got to Bump, who made it a one-goal game. But it was the tying goal by Tim Washe that came in truly stunning fashion. He left a soft liner from the right point go and DU goaltender Matt Davis (46 saves) misplayed it off his glove and it deflected into the net behind him to make it 3-3 with 3:40 left.
As the first overtime began, progressed and expired, it was clear the Broncos were the more energized team and the Pioneers were just about completely out of gas. Bump ended things just 22 seconds into the second overtime, finishing with three goals and one assist for the weekend.
“We’ve been saying it all year; we think we have a really special group in there, a great group of guys,” Washe said.
Hampton Slukynsky made 26 saves for the surging Broncos, who earned the final 1 seed in the NCAA tournament with the victory while Denver dropped to a No. 3 seed. They will be the only two NCHC teams in the national tournament – it is the first time the conference has failed to have at least three NCAA tournament representatives.
NCAA tournament brackets will be revealed Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. CT.
