Minnesota-Duluth, Harvard Headed to Frozen Four

Half the NCAA Men’s Division I Hockey Frozen Four picture is set following six games on Saturday, with the other two spots to be determined on Sunday.

Minnesota-Duluth became the first team to punch its ticket to Chicago in two weeks’ time with a 3-2 overtime victory over Boston University in the West Regional final at in Fargo, N.D. Adam Johnson scored on the power play just 1:57 into the extra session for the top-seeded Bulldogs, who also got 22 stops from Hunter Miska and will proceed to their first Frozen Four since 2011.  

UMD’s opponent in Illinois will be Harvard, which advanced to its first Frozen Four since 1994 by outlasting Air Force, 3-2, in the East Regional final in Providence. Tyler Moy’s second-period power-play goal gave Harvard a 3-0 lead and stood up as the game-winner, as the Falcons responded shortly afterwards with two goals in 15 seconds. Merrick Madsen finished with 27 saves for the Crimson, including a point-blank save on a rebound shot by Matt Serratore with 14 seconds remaining in regulation to preserve the win.

Top overall seed Denver raced out to a 4-0 lead after 20 minutes and never looked back in besting Michigan Tech, 5-2, in a Midwest Regional semifinal in Cincinnati. Colin Staub scored twice for the Pioneers, who connected twice on the power play and also got 16 stops from Tanner Jaillet.

In the late game in Cincinnati, Penn State and Union traded field goals until the Nittany Lions got the touchdown, scoring seven straight times over the last two periods of play en route to a 10-3 victory in their first-ever NCAA Tournament contest. Nate Sucese led Penn State with two goals and two assists, while Andrew Sturtz, Chase Berger and Kris Myllari posted three points apiece. It was the most goals scored by one team in an NCAA Tournament game in 27 years, since Lake Superior State beat Alaska Anchorage by the same score in 1990.

Ryan Lohnin scored two goals and Ryan Collins had two assists as UMass Lowell blanked Cornell, 5-0, in the early Northeast Regional semifinal in Manchester, N.H. Tyler Wall had 19 saves for the River Hawks, who advanced to the regional final on Sunday to take on fellow Hockey East school Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish scored three unanswered goals, the last two by Anders Bjork, to oust top seed Minnesota, 3-2, marking the 12th year in a row that that an NCAA Division I men's hockey No. 1 regional seed was eliminated in the regional round.

UMass Lowell and Notre Dame will face off at 3:30 p.m. ET on Sunday at the SNHU Arena, while Denver will face Penn State in the Midwest Regional final at 6 p.m. ET at U.S. Bank Arena. Both games will be televised live on ESPNU. The winners of those two regionals will meet in Chicago on April 6.