{"id":147813,"date":"2024-04-13T22:36:40","date_gmt":"2024-04-14T03:36:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/?p=147813"},"modified":"2024-04-13T22:41:20","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T03:41:20","slug":"wright-reaches-the-pinnacle-with-denver-as-he-plays-near-minnesota-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2024\/04\/13\/wright-reaches-the-pinnacle-with-denver-as-he-plays-near-minnesota-home\/","title":{"rendered":"Wright reaches the pinnacle with Denver as he plays near Minnesota home"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Jared Wright, right, celebrates his second-period goal for Denver on Saturday (photo: Jim Rosvold).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Jared Wright knows a thing or two about scoring big goals in the Xcel Energy Center.<\/p>\n

As a high schooler, the Burnsville, Minn., native scored the game-winning goal for St. Thomas Academy in the 2020 Minnesota State Hockey Tournament, helping the underdog Cadets knock off top-seeded Andover.<\/p>\n

Wright remembers that goal, but his team ultimately came up short in the state tournament. In Saturday night\u2019s national championship game against Boston College, the Denver sophomore scored a goal that he will no doubt remember forever — both for its uniqueness and for its impact.<\/p>\n

His goal helped break open what was a scoreless tie midway though the second period as the Pioneers beat the Eagles 2-0 for their 10th national title.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously it\u2019s a big dream growing up in Minnesota to win (a state championship), but winning this is I think so much bigger. It\u2019s the pinnacle of my life so far,\u201d said Wright.<\/p>\n

The goal, which came off a Denver defensive-zone faceoff win, was a strange one. Wright used his speed to get up the ice quickly and then took a feed from linemate Rieger Lorenz. When he took the low-angle shot from close to the goal line, he was aiming over BC goaltender Jacob Fowler\u2019s shoulder. Instead, the puck hit the post and bounced off Fowler\u2019s back.<\/p>\n

Fowler tried to make a backhand grab with his glove, but the puck fluttered in the net for the goal.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just threw it toward the net, and luckily it hit the post. It was rolling all over the place and somehow it found a way in,\u201d Wright said.<\/p>\n

Wright is one of two Minnesotans on Denver\u2019s roster this season. The other — Bloomington native Tristan Broz — scored the overtime game-winner in Thursday night\u2019s semifinal game against Boston University.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s not to mention the third Minnesota connection on the team. Lorenz, a native of Calgary, was a second-round draft pick of the Minnesota Wild in 2022; he scored the other goal in Saturday\u2019s game. Broz and Lorenz were both named to the Frozen Four all-tournament team.<\/p>\n

Broz, who played his freshman season at Minnesota, wasn\u2019t on the team when Denver won the title in 2022. He\u2019s grateful that he made the decision to transfer — he got to win two trophies on hometown ice this season, this one and the NCHC Frozen Faceoff.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s unbelievable,\u201d Broz said. \u201cIt adds a special extra part to it. And to do it with these guys is the best part.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wright, a sophomore who skated in all 44 of Denver\u2019s games this season, scored 15 goals for the Pioneers. He might not be the first name that comes to mind when they think of Denver\u2019s No. 1 scoring offense, but he\u2019s an important player for coach David Carle.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not sure there’s a faster player in college hockey,” Carle said. “His speed is exceptional. I think his offensive confidence continues to grow. Again, 15 goals in college hockey is not an easy thing to do. And I think he’s learning to score in different ways.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou watch him in juniors, a lot of it, truthfully, was the breakaway he had tonight. He scored a few of those goals this year. Most of his goals last year were that way. But he’s scoring in different ways around the net, finding open ice in quiet areas. So that’s been great to see.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd he’s the nicest human you’ll ever meet. Amazing, amazing kid. So proud of him. Teammates love him. You can tell how much it means to him to be here and to be part of this, and there’s not many people that you cheer harder for than Jared Wright, I’ll tell you that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wright\u2019s enthusiasm for the program showed during a postgame interview in the Denver locker room. He smiled the entire time from underneath a somewhat oversized national title baseball cap and pieces of the net.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt means everything. Especially having my grandparents here, they don\u2019t get to see me play a whole lot. Scoring in front of them, and my mom and my brothers and my family … it means the whole world,\u201d Wright said of playing in Minnesota. \u201cIt\u2019s the biggest moment of my life. I\u2019m just so proud to be a Pio and to be part of this program. To know so many of the guys … I don\u2019t even know what I\u2019m saying now, but it\u2019s the people here. The people make the program great, and I\u2019m really proud to be here.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jared Wright, from nearby Burnsville, Minn., scored the opening goal in the Pioneers’ championship-game victory.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":98,"featured_media":147814,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[4,1426],"tags":[812],"coauthors":[854],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWright reaches the pinnacle with Denver as he plays near Minnesota home - College Hockey | USCHO.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Jared Wright, from nearby Burnsville, Minn., scored the opening goal in the Pioneers' championship-game victory.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147813\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Wright reaches the pinnacle with Denver as he plays near Minnesota home - 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