LOVELAND — Kieran Cebrian plays all of his home games just a few minutes away from his childhood home in Denver’s Washington Park neighborhood. 

It’s only fitting that the lone Colorado native who plays regular minutes for the Pioneers scored the biggest goal in DU’s latest regional final victory.

After Western Michigan threatened to make the final 10 minutes of Sunday’s game nervous with a spot in the Frozen Four on the line, Cebrian quickly eased the nerves inside Blue Arena.

A bouncing puck found the stick of freshman Kyle Chyzowski, who slid it over to Cebrian for the Pios’ fifth goal of the night and sent the pro-DU crowd into a frenzy, knowing a trip to Las Vegas was all but secure.

Cebrian also scored in the regional semifinal win over Cornell, earning all-tournament honors for his performance across the weekend.

His line, which includes Chyzowski and freshman Brendan McMorrow, contributed half of the team’s six goals against Western Michigan.

Fans show out for regional final

Over 6,000 people piled into Blue Arena for the biggest college hockey game the state has seen in four years.

Colorado delivered and made the NCAA not think twice about its decision to bring the Big Dance back to the Front Range, where it will be again in Loveland this time next year.

It helped having a red-hot DU team standing alone at the end of it, clinching a spot in the Frozen Four, but the atmosphere was on another level from the NCAA Tournament’s previous visit.

“I think this was better,” Pios coach David Carle said. “(The fans) were engaged all night.”

Balanced effort boosts Pios again

Carle said it best postgame: The story of his team’s latest victory — its 11th in a row — was depth.

After leaning heavily on the most productive line in the country last season in Carter King, Aidan Thompson and Jack Devine, DU has had to find a different way to win this season with that trio, along with star defenseman Zeev Buium, off to professional hockey.

The solution is four lines that all play the entire game and a veteran defense corps that contributes on the score sheet more than any other team in the country. That formula worked again against the Broncos with nine different players registering a point in the 6-2 win Sunday. 

“To rely on, say, one line, is really challenging,” Carle said. “Everybody was going tonight and to beat a time like that, that’s what you need this time of year.”