UWRF Completes NCAA Hat Trick

For the third season in a row, the University of Wisconsin-River Falls is the NCAA Division III women's hockey national champion. The Falcons completed the trifecta with a 4-0 win over Nazareth in the NCAA title game on March 29 at UWRF's W.H. Hunt Arena.

Sophia Hess tallied two goals for the Falcons (30-1-0 overall), including an empty-net tally late in regulation, while Brooklyn Riley and Madison Kadrlik also scored, and MaKenna Aure recorded two assists. Jordan O'Kane stopped all 22 shots she faced for UWRF, while Mia Gonsalves made 40 saves for the visiting Golden Flyers (27-2-1). UWRF outshot Nazareth, 44-22, and also won 44 of 70 faceoffs while going 1-for-4 on the power play.

The Falcons also finished the 2025-26 campaign on a 26-game winning streak that dated back to Nov. 25.

Hamilton Wins Men's D3 Hockey Title

Curtiss Sturgeon connected just under 17 minutes into overtime to lift Hamilton College to its first-ever NCAA Division III men's hockey national title on Sunday, a 2-1 victory over Hobart in Utica.

Kahlil Fontana gave Hobart a 1-0 lead on a power-play goal midway through the first period, before Luke Tchor tied the game for the Continentals early in the second stanza. The score remained unchanged until Sturgeon finished off a 2-on-1 in the extra session with just his second goal of the season.

Aksel Reid made 39 saves in goal for sixth-ranked Hamilton (23-5-2), while Damon Beaver made 23 stops for No. 1 Hobart (30-1-0), which was seeking its fourth straight NCAA title along with an undefeated season. The Statemen outshot the Continentals, 40-25, and also won 42 of 81 faceoffs.

 

2026 Regionals Done, Frozen Four Set

The regional finals from the 2026 NCAA Division I men's hockey championship are finished. Results from Saturday and Sunday are as follows:

Worcester, Mass. Regional (March 28) 

Wisconsin 4, Michigan State 3 (OT)

Sioux Falls, S.D. Regional (March 28) 

North Dakota 5, Quinnipiac 0

Albany, N.Y. Regional (March 29)  

Michigan 4, Minnesota-Duluth 3

Loveland, Col. Regional (March 29)  

Denver 6, Western Michigan 2

The 2026 NCAA Frozen Four field is now set. Wisconsin will face off with North Dakota in the first national semifinal in Las Vegas on April 9 (5 p.m. ET, ESPN 2), while Michigan will take on Denver in the second semifinal (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2). The winners will meet in the national championship game on April 11 (5:30 p.m. ET, ESPN).

 

Day 2 of Regionals Completed

The second day of the 2026 NCAA Division I men's hockey championship is complete. Results from Friday are as follows:

Albany, N.Y. Regional 

• Michigan 5, Bentley 1
• Minnesota-Duluth 3, Penn State 1

Loveland, Col. Regional 

• Western Michigan 3, Minnesota State 1
• Denver 5, Cornell 0

Michigan will take on Minnesota Duluth in the Albany regional final on Sunday, while Western Michigan will face defending national champion Denver in the Loveland regional final later that same day.

The Worcester and Sioux Falls regional finals will be held on Saturday, with those two winners advancing to the NCAA Frozen Four in two weeks.

Day One of 2026 NCAA Regionals Done

The first day of the 2026 NCAA Division I men's hockey championship is the books. Results from Thursday are as follows:

Sioux Falls, S.D. Regional 

• North Dakota 3, Merrimack 0 
• Quinnipiac 5, Providence 2

Worcester, Mass. Regional 

• Michigan State 2, Connecticut 1
• Wisconsin 5, Dartmouth 1

Michigan State will take on Wisconsin in the Worcester regional final on Saturday (4:30 p.m. ESPN 2), while North Dakota will face Quinnipiac in the Sioux Falls regional final later that same day (7:30 p.m., ESPN2).

The Albany, N.Y. and Loveland, Co. regionals get underway on Friday.

Minnesota Hires New Head Coaches

The University of Minnesota has found its new hockey head coaches. 

On the men's side, the Golden Gophers have hired Brett Larson, a Minnesota-Duluth alumnus who had helmed St. Cloud State since 2018-19. In eight seasons, he went 153-116-23 overall and led the Huskies to two NCHC titles and four NCAA tournament berths, including a national-runner-up finish in 2021. He began his coaching career as a player-coach with San Diego (WCHL) in 1999-2000, and later served as an assistant coach at his alma mater and as associate head coach at Ohio State before returning to UMD for three years prior to taking the reins at SCSU. Larson, 53, who hails from Duluth, and who has also worked as GM/head coach with Sioux City (USHL), is the 15th men's head coach ever at Minnesota, which finished 11-22-3 overall this past season.

Greg May has been tabbed as the third-ever head coach of the Golden Gophers women's program. An Augsburg College alumnus, May served as associate head coach at Minnesota the past three seasons, with the Gophers finishing 18-9-1 and skating in the NCAA tournament this past season. Prior to that, the Burnsville, Minn. native had served as men's head coach at his alma mater, going 41-15-2 overall in two seasons and making two NCAA Division III tournaments with the Auggies after a stint as director of hockey operations with the Gophers. May, 40, began his career as an assistant coach at Burnsville High School, before serving as head coach at both Farmington High School and the Blake School.

2026 Richter Award Finalists Named

The three finalists for the 2026 Mike Richter Award as the top goaltender in NCAA Division I men's hockey were named last week. Player are listed by last name with their class, school, record, goals-against average and save percentage this season:

• Trey Augustine, Jr., Michigan State (23-8-1, 2.08, .929) 
• Michael Hrabal, Jr., UMass (19-9-1, 1.95, .937)
• Josh Kotai, Jr., Augustana (20-11-4,  1.99, .938)

Augustine is the only repeat Richter finalist this year, and is also a top 10 finalist for the Hobey Baker Award. He and Hrabal have led their teams to this year's NCAA tournament, while Kotai just signed an entry-level professional contract with the NHL's New York Islanders. 

The winner of this year's Richter Award will be announced during the Frozen Four in Las Vegas next month.