Boston College to face Denver in Frozen Four championship

Denver and Boston College will meet in the 2024 Frozen Four championship on April 13 after winning their respective semifinal matchups Thursday.

Boston College held Michigan at bay with a 4-0 shutout victory, while Denver took down Boston University 2-1 in overtime.

Will Smith led the way for the top-ranked Eagles with a pair of goals. His first tally set the tone just over one minute into the first period.

Boston College broke the game open in the second period. Smith and Cutter Gauthier scored in a 49-second span, digging a hole that was too deep for the Wolverines to climb out of.

Gabe Perreault added an extra insurance marker in the final stanza.

Eagles netminder Jacob Fowler turned aside all 32 shots he faced to backstop his team to victory.

Denver forward Tristan Broz played the hero in overtime during the night's first semifinal by blasting a wrister through the wickets of BU goalie Mathieu Caron. Broz also scored the double-overtime winner against UMass that sent Denver to the regional final in late March.

Boston University, the No. 2 seed in the tournament, opened the scoring before the midway mark of the first period with a shorthanded goal by Luke Tuch.

Pioneers forward Tristan Lemyre netted the equalizer in the middle frame off a turnover by star defenseman Lane Hutson following some prolonged pressure in the Terriers' zone.

Denver, the No. 3 seed, owned the league's top-ranked offense with a 4.71 goals-per-game rate heading into the semifinal.

The Pioneers had Massimo Rizzo back in the lineup for the first time since Feb. 3 following his recovery from a lower-body injury. The 22-year-old helped Denver win the national championship in 2022 as a freshman.

Denver is in pursuit of its 10th national title, which would break a tie with Michigan for the most all time. The Pioneers lost in the regional semifinal to Cornell last year.

Boston College is attempting to capture its sixth championship and first since 2012. The Eagles last appeared in the Frozen Four in 2016 when they fell to Quinnipiac in the semifinal.

Puck drops on Saturday's final at 6 p.m. ET.