Webster Family Mired In NCAA Tournament Glory

McKade was unable to make it to Columbus on Sunday. The Denver Pioneers won the NCHC Frozen Faceoff championship game on Saturday night. Following media availability, the Pioneers returned to Denver before a winter storm warning hit Minneapolis.

“I talked with her (on Saturday) on FaceTime and texted with her this morning,” Webster said of his sister in an interview on Monday. “It sounds like they’re having fun right now but super happy, and I’m really proud of her.”

Not long after Makenna and the Buckeyes wrapped up their game, McKade and his Denver teammates learned their NCAA Tournament fate. The Pioneers earned the No. 3 overall seed in the tournament and the No. 1 seed in the Springfield, Massachusetts Northeast Regional.

Denver will play UMass, who earned the final at-large bid, less than 30 miles from the Minutemen’s campus.

The Pioneers were an early exit last season, falling in the first game against Cornell.

However, Denver hopes that this year’s second-half success can propel the program to its tenth National Championship. The Pioneers went 11-2-1 in their final 14 games, seeing tremendous growth in the group’s defensive efforts, which plagued them in the first half.

Since February 1, the Pioneers yielded 2.6 goals-against per game, compared to 3.1 in the 27 games before that. As a result, Denver’s penalty kill, which ranks 49th overall with a 77.1% success rate, improved during that span.

Over the last two months, the Pioneers’ penalty kill clicked at an 81.6% clip, including an 87.0% (20/23) rate since March 1. In the Frozen Faceoff, Denver surrendered just one power play goal, coming in the semifinal matchup against St. Cloud State.

Against the Huskies, Webster scored late in the first period to knot the game up at one after 20 minutes. The following night, the 23-year-old scored twice in the second period to give Denver the lead for good. For his efforts, Webster was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.

Now guided by Webster’s captaincy, this young Denver squad is ready to fire on all cylinders in the NCAA Tournament.

“We’ve been unbelievable down the stretch here,” said Webster. “We’ve been in playoff mode for the last eight weeks, so I’m really excited to get into the Regionals ‘do-or-die’ hockey. (I’m) fully confident in our group right now and where we’re at.”

Should Denver defeat UMass on Thursday, the Pioneers would play the winner of No. 2 seed Maine and No. 3 seed Cornell, potentially setting up a rematch with the Big Red.