A game David Carle waited years for finally arrived — and his players met the moment.

No. 6 Denver hosted its first conference tournament semifinal game since 1986 and won an intense, thrilling game over Western Michigan 2-1 in overtime to advance to next weekend’s NCHC Frozen Faceoff championship game, which will be right back at Magness Arena after Minnesota Duluth defeated top seed North Dakota in the other semifinal game.

A shot by sophomore James Reeder hit senior Samu Salminen and squeaked past Broncos goaltender Hampton Slukynsky just under six minutes into the extra session, sending Magness Arena into a frenzy it hasn’t experienced in a long time.

“I don’t know if I’ve experienced that in my three years here,” junior defenseman Boston Buckberger said. “It sounded like the roof was gonna come off there in the third period. It means more than just 25 guys. We’ve got 6,200 other people who are pulling for us and that’s huge for our team and we’re looking forward to doing it again Saturday.”

The only reason the Pioneers had a chance to win in overtime was because of Buckberger’s goal with under four minutes to go.

Western Michigan finally broke the scoreless deadlock after over 50 minutes of hockey with a redirected shot that was the only one to get past DU freshman netminder Johnny Hicks all night.

A power play shortly after gave the Pios the opportunity they needed to equalize, and Carle made the bold call to pull Hicks with still plenty of time left on the clock to create a 6-on-4 opportunity that paid off after a key faceoff win by freshman Clarke Caswell before the puck found its way to Buckberger, who ripped one top shelf to square the game at one goal apiece.

“We just knew that we were gonna have to get one there,” Buckberger said. “We knew we were gonna have to be desperate and we knew that if we executed on a couple passes and created a shot lane and got pucks to the net, we know we have guys and sticks there. I think we did a great job on that faceoff play and just fortunate that it sifted through and went in.”

A slightly modest description for DU’s biggest goal of the season to that point.

“Little more than a sift,” Carle said with a smile.

The game-winner was a much more fortunate bounce, the Pios were happy to admit.

In what was the third straight playoff game between DU and WMU that needed overtime, Hicks continued to shine, finishing with 38 saves on 39 shots as he continued to build his legend in his freshman season in goal for the Pios. 

“He’s our rock back there,” Buckberger said. “We know that he can bail us out if we can make a couple of turnovers, bad plays, myself included. Just to have that belief and faith that he’s back there and can bail you out is huge. It allows us to keep pushing and keep playing to win, even in an overtime game like that.”

But it was the team’s top line that delivered the knockout blow with Reeder’s shot redirecting multiple times before it eventually hit Salminen’s skate and squirted into the net.

“I didn’t really notice much, just that the puck went in,” Salminen said. “I didn’t really know who scored. Just seeing the fans and hearing the building after that goal was something that I’ve probably never experienced before. It’s a huge moment and I’m happy that we get to play (at) home (for) these games and (we’re gonna) enjoy next week, as well.”

That’s music to Carle’s ears. The DU coach has been arguably the biggest advocate in the sport for moving more playoff games on campus, and the NCHC obliged this season by taking the semifinals and final of the Frozen Faceoff away from St. Paul, Minn., and moving them on campus.

“Certainly, I think it’s the right model,” Carle said. “I, personally, and our program have bigger aspirations in trying to get this to continue to grow around the country into the national tournament. It’s not impossible for road teams to win. Duluth just went into what everyone would call the hardest place in college hockey to win and they took down North Dakota 5-1 as the underdog. 

“Whether you’re at home or on the road, the preference is to play in an atmosphere and an environment that gets you excited.”

It’s hard to imagine Pios fans won’t be excited for next Saturday’s title game (6 p.m. NCHC.tv) against a fellow NCAA Tournament-bound team in Minnesota Duluth. 

If it’s anything like the semifinal between the previous two national champions, everyone who shows up is in for a treat. 

“For a 2-1 game, that’s as entertaining as you could ask for,” Carle said. “I thought the crowd, the energy, was amazing. Really thankful to our fans on short notice for showing up and coming out to this new format. I thought (the) proof of concept is now there. We’re really looking forward to playing in front of our fans Saturday night against (Minnesota Duluth).”