Michigan associate head coach Mel Pearson could not contain his excitement after freshman Eric Nystrom shot the puck into Denver's vacated net to ice Michigan's 5-3 win and send the Wolverines to their second Frozen Four in as many years. With Yost Ice Arena shaking, and the noise level greater than that of most construction sites, the typically stoic Pearson picked up a towel and waved it over his head in a state of euphoria as the Michigan bench exploded in celebration.

"I can't describe it, it was total jubilation," Pearson said with a grin. "At that point I think it is OK to show your emotions. We wear our emotions on our sleeve as a staff and a team and we played with that emotion (this weekend)."

Despite being an underdog in both its games this weekend, Michigan overcame all obstacles to advance to the Frozen Four. After defeating St. Cloud, one of the best offensive teams in the nation Friday night, 4-2, Michigan had to face off against Denver Saturday night in what Michigan coach Red Berenson called the hardest bracket in the NCAA Tournament.

Michigan locked up its passage to St. Paul in two weeks when with just 1:21 remaining in the game captain Jed Ortmeyer picked up a loose puck to create a 2-on-1 with Nystrom.

The two performed a give-and-go as Nystrom fed the puck back to Ortmeyer in the slot who then slipped it past a sprawled-out Dubielewicz.

Efforts by the NCAA to "neutralize" Yost for the hometown Wolverines failed. The fans did not appear to debilitate St. Cloud or Denver, but rather energize and motivate Michigan players during key stretches of the game.

At no time this weekend was the crowd more a factor than on Saturday after freshman defenseman Eric Werner took a pass in the slot and roofed it over Denver goaltender Wade Dubielewicz for the game-tying goal five minutes into the third period. For the next 15 minutes, the crowd created deafening noise that pushed Michigan to victory.

Michigan kicked off the scoring less than a minute into the second period, Nystrom slammed home a 2-on-1 feed from junior John Shouneyia to put Michigan up 1-0.

Two minutes later, Denver forward Chris Paradise tied the game at one with a slapshot from the point after the Pioneers set up their powerplay.

Michigan regained the lead when Mike Komisarek scored on a rising slap shot from the point while Dubielewicz was fighting through a screen.

But while on the penalty kill later in the period Komisarek closed his hand on the puck in the defensive zone and threw it the length of the ice to put the Wolverines down two men in one of the most perplexing plays of the game.

"I think as a player you just react," Pearson said about Komisarek's play.

"In college hockey if you close your hand on the puck, the play is supposed to be stopped immediately. I think he just closed it and then threw it. He was in a desperate state trying to get the puck out (of the zone)," he added.

The Wolverines successfully killed off the 1:05 on the 5-on-3 powerplay, but was unable to prevent the Pioneers from moving the puck around in front of the crease. Denver's Devin Doell made Michigan pay for this failure when he slid the puck into an open net with Blackburn out of position seconds after the first penalty expired.

Three minutes later, the Pioneers took the a 3-2 lead after fourth line forward Luke Fulghum deflected a pass from Max Bull past Blackburn on a 3-on-1 rush.

Werner's goal five minutes into the third period deadlocked the game at three apiece for the next 14 minutes and rejuvenated the crowd and The Wolverines.

Michigan would regain the lead with just 1:21 remaining in the game when Michigan captain Jed Ortmeyer picked up a loose puck to create a 2-on-1 with Nystrom. The two performed a give-and-go as Nystrom fed the puck back to Ortmeyer in the slot, and the junior then slipped it past a sprawled-out Dubielewicz.

The Pioneers entered the game 28-1 when leading after two stanzas, and only gave up more than two goals 10 times in 41 games.

"We came out of intermission really confident. We expected to win the game," Berenson said. "Somehow we were going to make it happen. We knew we had to play the best period of the year and we laid everything out there."

But this win wouldn't have been possible if not for the stellar play of some of Michigan's unsung heroes Friday night against St. Cloud. The Wolverines received an early goal from freshman Jason Ryznar to take a 1-0 lead.

Then in the middle of the first period, senior Craig Murray and Milan Gajic scored back-to-back goals a minute apart.

"This team has a ton of character, they're oozing with character and leadership," Berenson said.