By Keith Pearson, The Boston Globe

UMass was unable to solve the No. 3 Denver defense, as the host Pioneers recorded a third straight clean sheet in a 3-0 quarterfinal victory.

Jason Belloli gave Denver (15-3-4) the lead in the eighth minute, heading home his first goal of the season. Ronan Wynne doubled the Pioneers’ lead with 2:35 to go in the first half. Oje Ofunrein concluded the scoring 4:09 into the second half.

Alex Geczy made four saves for UMass (13-4-5), which was outshot 12-6.

Vermont 2, Pittsburgh 0 — The Catamounts booked their spot in the College Cup for the first time, defeating the No. 2 Panthers, 2-0, in Pittsburgh.

Maximilian Kissel opened the scoring in the 51st minute and Yaniv Bazini netted a second with 10 seconds remaining to secure next week’s trip to Cary, N.C.

Niklas Herceg posted his third clean sheet of the tournament, making a career-high nine saves for the Catamounts (15-2-5), who have won six straight.

Vermont is the first team from New England to reach the College Cup since Providence in 2014 and will face No. 3 Denver in the semifinals on Friday.

Amherst 0, Connecticut College 0 (Amherst 4-3 on penalties) — It took 110 minutes and seven rounds of penalties for the Mammoths to claim the Division 3 national championship in Las Vegas.

Amherst goalkeeper Max Landa dove to his left to deny Alessandro Horvath Diano to start the seventh round. Simon Kalinauskus converted the spot kick to give the Mammoths (16-2-4) the title. He tucked his shot just underneath the crossbar down the middle of the goal as Camels goalkeeper Peter Silvester dove to his right.

The Mammoths outshot the Camels, 24-13, and had a 17-0 advantage in corner kicks. Amherst’s Max Landa made three saves while Connecticut College’s Peter Silvester had six during regulation and two 10-minute overtimes. Each keeper made three saves during the shootout.

Connecticut College (14-3-7) defeated Amherst in penalties in the NESCAC quarterfinals on its way to the league title last month.

Franklin Pierce 2, Shepherd 1 — Jenni Huttunen scored twice in the second half to lead the Ravens to their first appearance in the Division 2 Final Four since 2007 after defeating the Rams in Rindge, N.H.

Huttunen, a sophomore midfielder from Finland, gave Franklin Pierce (19-3-2) a 2-0 lead with goals in the 56th minute off a corner kick and 20 minutes later on a penalty kick.

Shepherd (18-2-4) pulled a goal back in the 82nd minute, but senior Emilie Fox made three saves for the victory between the woodwork.

The Ravens will play Friday in Matthews, N.C., against either Minnesota State, Cal Poly Pomona, or Columbus State in the semifinals. The draw is reseeded for the Final Four.

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