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ST. PAUL - Two years ago at Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota Duluth experienced the highest of highs that the NCHC Frozen Faceoff can offer by beating Western Michigan and North Dakota for the league鈥檚 postseason title and automatic berth to the NCAA tournament.

After last year鈥檚 Frozen Faceoff at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, the Bulldogs experienced the lowest of lows, unsure of whether their season was over or not following losses to Denver and North Dakota.

鈥淵ou take a lot of lessons out of both years, but the hardship and stress it caused last year was not fun,鈥� UMD junior defenseman Nick Wolff said. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 want to go through that again. Winning the whole thing was fun.鈥�

Even with a fifth consecutive NCAA tournament spot locked up, the Bulldogs have no intention of extending their Frozen Faceoff losing streak any further and that begins where last year鈥檚 conference championship weekend began. UMD (23-11-2) takes on Denver (21-10-5) in the NCHC semifinals at 7:38 p.m. Friday, March 22, at Xcel, with St. Cloud State opening the tournament against Colorado College in the other semifinal at 4:08 p.m.

On Saturday, the losers play at 3:38 p.m. in the third-place game, while the winners meet for the league title at 7:38 p.m.

The Bulldogs and Pioneers are meeting in the postseason for the third consecutive season. It鈥檚 a rivalry that has created respect, not hostility, among the coaching staffs.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e one of the few teams in the country that we actually text each other when we sweep out of conference or anything like that,鈥� said Denver鈥檚 David Carle, who is in his first year as head coach after four seasons as an assistant. 鈥淲e鈥檙e always rooting each other on.鈥�

鈥淲e have a lot of respect for them,鈥� UMD coach Scott Sandelin said. 鈥淲e play similar, the makeup of our teams have been similar. They鈥檝e had some really, really good teams with some high-end guys the last few years and even going back a little bit. I think both teams play the right way.鈥�

The Pioneers have won each of the two previous postseason meetings - 3-2 in the 2017 NCAA championship game in Chicago and 3-1 last year in the league semifinals.

Many of the key players from both of those Pioneers teams are gone, however, with senior captain Jarid Lukosevicious - who had a hat trick in the 2017 NCAA title game -  being the lone exception.

Otherwise, Troy Terry, Henrik Borgstrom, Dylan Gambrell and Tanner Jaillett - to name a few - have moved on from the college ranks. The same goes for Pioneers coach Jim Montgomery, who left for the NHL鈥檚 Dallas Stars.

UMD junior forward Riley Tufte said the turnover at Denver means little. The names may be different, but as UMD learned during its four regular-season meetings, it鈥檚 still the same old Pioneers.

鈥淭heir playing style is similar. They don鈥檛 have the Borgstroms or Terrys on the team, but they work hard and I think that鈥檚 what makes them so successful,鈥� Tufte said. 鈥淭heir style of play, that makes them successful, too. They are a lot like us, a defensive team. It鈥檚 going to be a good battle. I鈥檓 looking forward to it.鈥�

Denver has won eight of the last 10 games against the Bulldogs and are 17-5-2 in the series the last six seasons.

Denver held a six-game winning streak over the Bulldogs until the second night of a November series in the Mile High City when UMD rallied from a 3-0 deficit to win 4-3 in overtime, getting goals from sophomore defenseman Scott Perunovich with 1.8 seconds left in regulation and from freshman wing Cole Koepke 52 seconds into overtime.

UMD and Denver split their most recent series in Duluth with the Bulldogs winning 5-2 before getting shut out for the second time this season by the Pioneers the next night.

Bulldogs senior captain Billy Exell said he not only expects Friday鈥檚 semifinal to be a tight game - 10 of the last 14 meetings have been decided by a single goa - that鈥檚 what UMD wants. A good, tight defensive game is what wins in the postseason as UMD showed a year ago with four consecutive one-goal wins - the last three by 2-1 margins - to capture the national championship.

鈥淲e鈥檙e going to want to keep it a low-scoring game. We want our defensive corps to be a big part of our team and our success,鈥� Exell said. 鈥淧laying against (Denver), we know they can score. We want to be really good defensively and create our chances going that way from being in the right spot, taking off and getting our chances.鈥�

NCHC FROZEN FACEOFF

At Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul

Friday鈥檚 Semifinals

TV: CBS Sports Network

• No. 6 Colorado College (17-18-4) vs. No. 1. St. Cloud State (29-4-3), 4:08 p.m.
• No. 4 Denver (21-10-5) vs. No. 2 Minnesota Duluth (23-11-2), 7:38 p.m.

Saturday鈥檚 Games

• Third place, 3:38 p.m.
• Championship, 7:38 p.m.