David Carle knew what was coming.

“It’s sports. It’s either pure elation or utter heartbreak,” the Denver coach said this week. “It’s the beauty of it. That’s why it’s captivating for fans and coaches and players and everybody alike.”

That’s what Carle’s Pioneers and No. 1 overall seed Michigan delivered in Thursday’s Frozen Four in Las Vegas.

For a second straight year, DU found itself in double overtime of a national semifinal. 

This time, though, it was pure elation.

Senior captain Kent Anderson scored the game-winning goal with 7:25 left in double overtime a year after the Pios lost in this same spot to eventual champion Western Michigan in St. Louis.

“(Krisitan Epperson) was protecting the puck well, found me in a good spot,” Anderson said. “(I) let ‘er rip and it went in.

“I don’t score many goals, so this is ranking up top so far. It means everything to play in this national championship game. It’s our goal at the beginning of the year. It’s what we work for and what we play for at Denver.”

The veteran defenseman scored just his second goal of the season, but Carle said postgame that freshman goaltender Johnny Hicks was DU’s best player in the game after making a career-high 49 saves in the 4-3 victory that took nearly 93 minutes of action.

Hicks improved to 15-0-1 since taking over as the team’s starting netminder in late January.

“He’s had an unbelievable run the last two, three years,” Carle said. “Obviously (he) was our best player tonight. Very unfazed by the moment. Made a lot of great saves. Made the saves you’re supposed to. Made a lot that he wasn’t supposed to.”

Denver will face Wisconsin in the national championship game on Saturday at 3 p.m. on ESPN at T-Mobile Arena. 

DU opened the scoring, unsurprisingly, through freshman in Kyle Chyzowski, who scored on a pass from Brendan McMorrow as the Pios capitalized on a turnover by Michigan in its own end less than 10 minutes into the game. 

The Wolverines and their No. 1 scoring offense in the country responded late in the first period with a pair of goals in the span of 59 seconds that gave them a 2-1 lead heading into the first intermission.

DU defenseman Cale Ashcroft scored just 2 1/2 minutes into the second period to tie the game up at two goals apiece, and the game would stay deadlocked until the final 10 minutes of regulation when Michigan’s No. 1 power play scored on its first chance of the night.

That lead lasted for about six minutes as Pios freshman Clarke Caswell scored on a tip shot shortly before Carle would have been forced to empty the net in search of an equalizer.

Both teams had various chances in the first overtime period with both freshman goaltenders making timely saves to force a second extra session.

Regardless of what happens, the Pios will maintain their all-time advantage in national championships after defeating Michigan, which stays at nine national championships while DU will try to win its 11th all-time on Saturday afternoon.

It’s the second straight Frozen Four meeting between the two programs with the most national titles that went the way of the team from the Mile High City as DU beat Michigan in the 2022 Frozen Four in Boston, also in overtime.

“They look like a completely different team this year than they did four years ago,” Carle said.

Wisconsin defeated No. 2 overall seed North Dakota in the first semifinal earlier Thursday to advance to its first national championship game since 2010, which is also the last time the Badgers made the Frozen Four.

DU will enter the title game on a 16-game unbeaten run that dates back to late January, including what is now a 12-game winning streak.

“We’re pretty battle-tested,” senior forward Rieger Lorenz said. “In the last six to eight weeks we’ve been in some close, tough games, especially in the NCHC Frozen Faceoff. We pulled out every time. I think there’s a pretty deep belief in this group right now. Reminds me of the ’24 group.”

Just like in 2024, DU will play for another national championship.