NU happy to stay `home' for Worcester regional
Northeastern men’s hockey coach Jim Madigan wasted little time in getting an early message across to the players gathered inside the Makris Varsity Room at Matthews Arena to watch the 2018 NCAA Division 1 tournament selection show.
“Guys, bring all your friends to Worcester,” said Madigan, who this season guided NU (23-9-5) to its first Beanpot title in 30 years, the seventh 20-win campaign in program history and a sixth NCAA appearance, including second in the last three years.
The players cheered loudly when the Northeast Region bracket was announced, slotting the Huskies into the No. 3 seed at the DCU Center in Worcester. NU will take on No. 2 Michigan (2014-3) in the second half of a Saturday doubleheader.
The NU-Michigan game will be preceded by a matchup between top-seeded Cornell (25-5-2) and No. 4 Boston University (21-13-4). On Saturday, the Terriers, who were among the last teams to qualify for the 16-team (six automatics, 10 at-larges) tournament, upset Providence College at the Garden to win their ninth Hockey East playoff title.
BU is the only Northeast Region team to advance with an automatic qualifier. NU, Michigan and Cornell all drew at-large bids.
Providence is the No. 2 seed in the East Regional and will play No. 3 Clarkson on Friday in Bridgeport, Conn. For the Friars (23-11-4), this will be their fifth straight NCAA appearance.
The selection committee originally leaned toward sending NU to the West Regional in Sioux Falls, S.D., but when Minnesota fell to Minnesota-Duluth, the committee opted to place Michigan and NU in Worcester and to keep UMD and Minnesota State (formerly Mankato State) out west to enhance the draws (attendance) in both regions.
“It’s great. We don’t have to travel too far. It’s 45 minutes. Hopefully, we can bring a lot of our fans with us,” said senior Dylan Sikura, one of two Hobey Baker Award finalists (Adam Gaudette of Braintree is the other) on the Huskies roster. “I don’t anything at all about Michigan’s team. Like coach said, they’re a pretty fast, pretty skilled team. We haven’t had a chance to play a Big 10 team this year, so it should be challenge.”
Sikura views the experience of reaching the NCAA Midwest Regional two years ago in Cincinnati, where NU lost, 6-2, to eventual national champion North Dakota, will pay dividends.
“Yeah, definitely, for the older guys the experience always helps but obviously it’s tough to compare those two teams because we came from a terrible start and had to really work our way in there,” he said. “This year, we kind of set ourselves up in a good place. Last time, we were just happy to be there. This year were more focused.”
NU senior captain Nolan Stevens spent two years living in Ann Arbor, Mich., while playing with the U.S. National Development program and sometimes practiced at Michigan’s Yost Arena.
“We haven’t played a Big 10 team in a while so, as players, this is the time of year we you have to trust the coaching staff that they’ll get a good game plan ready for us,” Stevens said. “We’re excited.”
Gaudette leads the country in scoring with 60 points on 30 goals and 30 assists. He sees NU’s proximity to Worcester and the student Dog Pound as providing an edge.
“Obviously, Michigan is a team we haven’t seen at all, so it’s a new challenge for us,” Gaudette said. “But, we have to focus on us and how we play and not the other team. Honestly, if we play the way we have been all year I think we can play with anybody in the country.”
This year marks the first time since 1976-77 that powerhouse programs Boston College, Minnesota, and North Dakota will miss out on the tourney.