DU Hockey Earns Top Seed

After finishing the regular season with the most wins and spending several weeks at the top of the college hockey rankings, the Pioneers have been rewarded. The NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Committee has selected the University of Denver as the top seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Sixteen teams will take part in the championship playoff, which begins this Friday. DU will face Michigan Tech on Saturday at 11 a.m. MT in Cincinnati, Ohio. The game can be seen on ESPNews.

The top seed comes on the heels of DU’s third-place finish this weekend at the NCHC Frozen Faceoff. The Pioneers followed up a loss on Friday night to North Dakota with a 3-1 win on Saturday against Western Michigan.

“This was a good team win for us today [Saturday],” said coach Jim Montgomery. “I think it illustrated the depth we have at Denver because we sat out several players. We are here to win a national championship, and after Friday’s loss [to North Dakota], I wasn’t going to risk any injuries.”

Denver had already clinched an at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament prior to the Frozen Faceoff.

Other Athletics News …

The seventh-ranked women’s gymnastics team finished second at the Big 12 Championship this weekend. Top-ranked Oklahoma won the title.

“It was a solid performance despite tight scoring, which will help us be prepared for Regionals,” said head coach Melissa Kutcher-Rinehart, who was named the 2017 Big 12 co-Head Coach of the Year.

Freshman Maddie Karr and senior Julia Ross finished second and third respectively in the all-around, earning spots on the Big 12 Championship Team.

Denver will next travel to Fayetteville, Ark. as a No. 2 seed for the NCAA Regionals on Saturday, April 1. Joining the Pioneers will be No. 4 Utah, No. 16 California, No. 21 Auburn, Arkansas and Michigan. This is DU's 19th-consecutive NCAA Regionals.