Owen Michaels scored his second goal 26 seconds into the second overtime and Western Michigan beat defending champion Denver 3-2 on Thursday night to advance to its first Frozen Four title game.

Brian Kramer also scored and freshman Hampton Slukynsky stopped 20 shots for a veteran-laden Western Michigan team making its Frozen Four debut in its 10th NCAA tournament appearance. The Broncos (33-7-1) set a season record for victories, extended their winning streak to nine and won after blowing a 2-0 third-period lead.

Western Michigan will face Boston University in the title game Saturday night.

Michaels’ deciding goal came on a rush into the Denver zone with Matteo Costantini driving up the right wing and sweeping the puck into the middle. Michaels accepted the pass and roofed a shot over goalie Matt Davis’ right shoulder.

“Blacked out a little. It was kind of a little bit of a broken play, just saw the puck squirt out to me,” said Michaels, a sophomore from Northville, Michigan. “I was in the middle of the ice and had some open time and space and figured I’d put it on net. And pretty happy it went in.”

Jared Wright, with the tying goal with 2:39 left in regulation, and Aidan Thompson scored, and Davis had 44 saves for Denver (31-12-1). The Pioneers, who have won a tournament-leading 10 titles and two in the previous three years, failed in their bid to become the NCAA’s ninth team to repeat as champions, and first since Minnesota-Duluth in 2018 and 2019.

The Broncos dominated much of the game with Michaels and Kramer scoring second-period goals and Western Michigan having a 32-8 edge in shots. Zach Nehring had the best scoring chance a minute into the game when he snapped a shot off the crossbar while facing an open right side.

“It’s a focused group. They never lose belief in themselves,” said coach Pat Ferschweiler, who has led the Broncos to a tournament berth in each of his four seasons.

Boston University 3, Penn State 1: Jack Hughes and Cole Eiserman scored second-period goals and the Terriers advance to its first Frozen Four final in 10 years.

Freshman goalie Mikhail Yegorov stopped 32 shots and Jack Harvey scored an empty-netter with a minute left for BU (24-12-2), which lost in the semifinals in each of the past two years. The Terriers are five-time champions, who lost to Providence in the 2015 and are seeking their first title since beating Miami (Ohio) in 2009.

Nicholas DeGraves scored 2:15 into the third for Penn State (22-14-4).

The Nittany Lions — another Frozen Four first-timer — were making just their fourth NCAA tournament appearance since being established in 2011-12. Arsenii Sergeev made 31 saves in a showdown of two Russian-born goalies.

Terriers coach and two-time Stanley Cup winner Jay Pandolfo has reached the Frozen Four a combined seven times, four as a player and in each of his three seasons behind the BU bench.