ST. PAUL, Minn. — If there’s one thing that Alex Bump definitely does well, it’s scoring goals at Xcel Energy Center.
The Prior Lake native became a legend during the 2022 Class 2A boys’ state hockey tournament, and on Saturday, he etched his name in the Western Michigan record books after scoring the winning goal in double overtime to lift the Broncos over Denver 4-3 to win the final NCHC Frozen Faceoff. Bump scored two goals in the game and Western erased a three-goal deficit in the third period to force overtime.
“I’ve scored a couple goals here, so it’s nothing new,” Bump said, with a laugh. “It’s always fun.”
With the victory, the Broncos finish as regular season and Frozen Faceoff champions, which is the first time that’s happened in the league since 2021 when North Dakota accomplished that feat.
Western coach Pat Ferschweiler said that a tight game like that benefits his squad as it gets ready for the NCAA regionals.
“I think it prepares both for the NCAA Tournament next week,” he said. “I’m proud of our team (for) the way we stuck with it there. We hung in there, and then I thought we took over the game at the end. I’m just excited to have another program first.”
Denver players Kent Anderson (left) and Zeev Buium (middle) celebrate one of their three second-period goals. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)
For the Pioneers, who won last year’s Frozen Faceoff on their way to a national championship, it was a tough ending as they held what appeared to be a secure lead going into the third.
“That was a good hockey game,” said DU coach David Carle. “Our guys battled hard, they battled hard. Disappointed obviously that we couldn’t close the game out in regulation, but we had some looks in overtime. Especially with the offsides goal, that would’ve been the fourth for us, too. Tough game, but give them credit. They played extremely well, and they’re a great hockey team. For us, it’s trying to turn the page quickly. Certainly, it stings and it needs to sting, but turn the page quickly to Manchester and Providence and our next game.”
For some teams, it might be tough to bounce back quickly from a conference championship loss, but the Pioneers appeared to be already doing that in the postgame presser.
“Honestly, I think not having that much time for the next game makes it even easier to turn the page,” said DU captain Carter King. “I think it’s easy to sit there and dwell on the chances that we could’ve had, or plays that could’ve been made. At the end of the day, this year’s been about rolling with the punches and just working with the situations that we have. I think we have the team to learn and grow from what we just went through, and it’s just about getting ready for the tournament.”
Denver takes control on the scoreboard first
DU started off with a little more energy and almost scored on an early power play, but James Reeder just missed the net on a backdoor play. The Pioneers almost scored at the 5:20 mark as Aidan Thompson tried to put in a rebound, but he was denied by Broncos goalie Hampton Slukynsky.
Western started to take control after the midway point of the period and ended up leading 10-4 in shots. At the 9:20 mark, the Broncos’ Zach Nehring had a good chance down low and almost tapped in his own rebound, but DU goalie Matt Davis kept the puck out. Western’s best scoring chance came at 17:13 as Brian Kramer snapped a loose puck at the net, but Davis just got a piece of it to keep the game at 0-0 going into the second period.
Alex Bump scores the overtime-winner 22 seconds into the second OT period while being defended by Denver’s Zeev Buium. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)
Early in the second, Western still stayed in control, but then the Pioneers caught fire. At 5:46, DU got on the scoreboard on a goal by Jake Fisher. After Slukynsky stopped Samu Salminen’s shot, the rebound went right to Fisher, who tapped it into an open net to make it 1-0.
At 9:05, the Pioneers struck again as Rieger Lorenz left a drop pass to Eric Pohlkamp at the point and he blasted a shot past Slukynsky to put DU up 2-0. A little more than a minute later, DU went up 3-0 as Zeev Buium skated into the slot and notched his 11th goal of the season. The Pioneers almost went up 4-0 as Salminen put the puck in the net at 14:31, but the goal was waved off due to offsides, and it stayed 3-0 going into the third.
Broncos charge back
Western got on the board at 3:21 of the third to trim its deficit to 3-1 as Broncos defenseman Zack Sharp went top shelf on Davis. The Broncos started to put a little more pressure on Davis for a few minutes after that, but the netminder stood tall through that stretch.
The Broncos cut DU’s lead to one at 13:19 as Bump scored just off a faceoff in the Pioneers zone, blasting a shot past Davis. Just over three minutes later, Western tied things up as the Broncos entered the DU zone on a rush and Tim Washe’s shot went off Davis’ glove and into the back of the net to make it 3-3 and force overtime.
Western Michigan players celebrate their NCHC Frozen Faceoff Championship on March 22, 2025. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)
“That is a huge hill to climb, down 3-0 to Denver in the third,” Ferschweiler said. “That’s such a great hockey team, and they’re so dangerous. But I thought our players were getting better throughout the game and there was lots of belief in that locker room. We just talked about being urgent from the first shift on and not waiting ’til the end to try to press. We couldn’t. We had to get three goals, not one goal.
“Then the big-time play by Liam Valente to pull up and find Zack Sharp, who calmly buries it under the bar, and you could feel ‘Okay, the belief was there.’ This is a confident group. The belief is always there, but then you could just feel the momentum build, and I just thought we got better and better and better even throughout the overtime.”
Western brought that momentum into the first overtime as they controlled play for almost the entire period. The Broncos had three good chances to win the game in the opening three minutes of the period, but Davis stopped them all. At 7:02, Nehring almost ended things for Western, but his shot down low was denied by Davis. There was a scramble in front of the net, but Davis was able to cover the puck before it crossed the goal line.
DU had its best chance to win it at 5:09 as Sam Harris sent a shot on net that was saved by Slukynsky, but the puck came loose and the freshman netminder had to spin around and whack it out of the crease before it crossed the line.
