Owen Michaels scored his second goal of the game 26 seconds into double overtime to lift Western Michigan to a 3-2 win against Denver in the first semifinal at the Frozen Four on Thursday evening in St. Louis.
Western Michigan (33-7-1), which is playing in its first Frozen Four in program history, will play either Penn State or Boston University in the championship game on Saturday.
Brian Kramer also scored and Hampton Slukynsky made 20 saves for Western Michigan, which has won nine in a row to become the first team from the state of Michigan to reach the national championship game since Ferris State lost to Boston College in 2012.
Aidan Thompson and Jared Wright scored and Matt Davis made 44 saves for Denver (31-12-1), which was trying to become the first team to win back-to-back national titles since Minnesota-Duluth in 2018 and ’19.
Michaels received a pass coming down the middle and scored with a wrist shot from the slot to cap off the first double-overtime game at the Frozen Four since 1996.
In the second period, the Broncos were on their second power play of the night when Kramer scored with a wrist shot from the high slot after a faceoff win, giving Western Michigan a 1-0 lead at 6:16.
Western Michigan extended the lead to 2-0 at 14:32 of the second after a Denver player slipped and lost the puck along the wall in his own zone. Michaels took possession and skated into the right circle before scoring with a wrist shot.
Denver cut it to 2-1 at 6:49 of the third. Thompson took a shot that was blocked by Samuel Sjolund, but the puck came back to him and he put his second try into the net.
Wright pushed the puck across the goal line as it was loose beneath Slukynsky to tie it 2-2 with 2:39 left in regulation. After a video review, the goal was upheld.
The Broncos outshot the Pioneers 12-3 in the scoreless first period and 32-8 through two periods.
Western Michigan forward Zach Nehring had an open net off a rebound just 1:09 into the first period, but his shot hit the crossbar.