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NCAA tournament day 4 recap: Denver soundly defeats Western Michigan to head to Frozen Four
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Photo credit: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports
Ryley Delaney
Mar 30, 2026, 16:00 EDTUpdated: Mar 30, 2026, 14:59 EDT
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The Frozen Four has been set.
Sunday was the final day of the NCAA National Tournament regionals, with one Calgary Flame prospect in action. Denver’s Eric Jamieson took on the reigning National Tournament winners, Western Michigan, while the late game would determine their opponent if Denver was able to win.
Let’s take a look at what happened in the Denver game, how the other game turned out, and how the Frozen Four shapes up.

Denver vs. Western Michigan

Denver and Western Michigan are both NCHC teams, meaning that they ran into each other during the NCHC Frozen Faceoff (the end of the season tournament). It was a close game, with Denver pulling out a 2-1 overtime victory in the semifinal game, defeating Minnesota Duluth in the finals.
Sunday’s regional final between Denver and Western Michigan wasn’t nearly as close. Sam Harris opened the scoring just two minutes into the period, and Kyle Chyzowski scored to double their lead. Zach Bookman scored for Western Michigan just over a minute later to make it a one-goal game, then Denver took over.
Midway through the first period, Samu Salminen scored to make it 3-1, and with just under five minutes left in the opening frame, Brendan McMorrow gave the Pioneers a 4-1 lead heading into the first intermission.
Neither team scored in the second period, giving Western Michigan just 20 minutes to mount a comeback. Theo Wallberg’s goal midway through the third period cut Denver’s lead in half, but Denver’s Kieran Cebrian answered about three minutes later to make it 5-2. Hobey Baker finalist Eric Pohlkamp iced the game with an empty netter for a 6-2 victory.
Flame prospect Eric Jamieson had a fairly uneventful game, finishing with no points and two shots to give him six goals and 14 points in 39 games this season. But the question is, who will his opponent be in the Frozen Four?

The other game and setting up the Frozen Four

There was a chance that Minnesota Duluth could get a chance to enact their revenge over Denver for the NCHC final, but first they had to defeat Henry Mews’ Michigan. They fell down 1-0 just over three minutes thanks to a Will Horcoff goal, then Michigan scored twice more before the end of the first period.
A scoreless second gave UMD just 20 minutes to mount a comeback, and their goal 36 seconds in from Harper Bentz helped. But three minutes into the period, Michigan made it 4-1. That turned out to be a crucial goal, as Ty Hanson scored midway through the second and Scout Truman scored with three minutes left to bring Minnesota Duluth to within one. They were unable to score the game-tying goal, ending their season.
That means that Jamieson’s Denver will take on Michigan, without Mews unfortunately. That game is on Apr. 9 at 6:30 PM MT in Las Vegas. Shortly before that game, Abram Wiebe, Cole Reschny, and Cade Littler and North Dakota will face Wisconsin in the other semifinal game, with the finals coming on Apr. 11.
See you then!
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for FlamesNation, Oilersnation, and Blue Jays Nation. She can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.
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