LOVELAND — In his first trip to Blue Arena, Denver sophomore Jake Fisher is taking extra time to take it all in.

While he’s focused on helping the Pioneers reach a third straight Frozen Four, the Avalanche draft pick knows there’s a pretty good chance his professional career could one day begin in this same building as a member of the Colorado Eagles, the Avs’ AHL affiliate.

“It’s awesome,” Fisher said. “I’ve never been up here, so this is the first time seeing the fan base and everything. This building is obviously great. Going to school in Denver is unreal and having my NHL team local is even more (special).”

The Woodbury, Minn., native made the most of his first game at Blue Arena, scoring the opening goal of DU’s 5-0 blowout win over Cornell on Friday night that sent the Pios to the regional final on Sunday (1 p.m.) against No. 1 seed Western Michigan.

Coach David Carle was complimentary of Fisher’s line, which includes freshman Reid Varkonyi and sophomore Hagen Burrows on the wings, contributed two points on the night and has provided stability for much of the season.

Freshman class delivers in NCAA Tournament debut

Carle has said all season that the Pios are going to need their 10 freshmen to step up in big moments if this team is going to achieve all of its goals.

Friday was a good first step for this young group that is eager to play a big role in what they hope is the 11th season in program history that ends with a national championship.

Goaltender Johnny Hicks is the headliner of the group, given his play over the last two months, but the rest of the first-year players contributed three points in the win as Clarke Caswell registered a goal and an assist, while defenseman Eric Jamieson had an assist.

“It’s awesome. It brings the whole group closer, as well, when everyone’s contributing in their own ways,” Hicks said. “It’s a great thing to see, from my point of view. I can see everyone working and the chemistry flowing.”

DU beats nation’s best defense at its own game

All of the talk about Cornell’s No. 1-ranked defense in the country was over less than 20 minutes into Friday’s game.

After playing a pair of tight NCAA Tournament games against the Big Red in 2023 and 2024, DU took it to Cornell from the jump, controlling the puck throughout the opening period and taking a 2-0 lead into the locker room.

The Pios didn’t let up the rest of the game, posting their first shutout win in the NCAA Tournament since the 2-0 win over Boston College in the 2024 national championship game and just the second shutout win in the tournament this decade.

“We didn’t go away,” junior forward Kieran Cebrian said. “I was impressed with our group. Last week, we were up 3-0 (against Minnesota Duluth) and ended up tied 3-3, so we just made sure we kept managing pucks and making the right plays and doing what we did in the first period.”