BC, BU on collision course
UMass draws Lake Superior St. in opener
The NCAA selection committee set up a Holy War in Albany, New York.
Boston College (17-5-1) earned a No. 1 seed in the Albany Regional and will face No. 4 seed Notre Dame (12-10-2) on Saturday at the Times Union Center. North Dakota drew the No. 1 overall seed followed by the Eagles, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
BC will be the flagbearer of Hockey East, which landed three teams in the field of 16. Boston University (104-1) is the No. 3 seed in Albany and will face No. 2 St. Cloud (17-10). If the Eagles and Terriers get through the first round, they would play Sunday for a spot in the Frozen Four, which will be in Pittsburgh on April 8 and 10.
UMass (16-5-4) is the No. 2 seed in the Bridgeport Regional and will face No. 3 Lake Superior State (19-6-3) on Friday at Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Wisconsin and Bemidji State are in the other regional semifinal.
BC won the first of four NCAA titles on York’s watch in Albany 20 years ago with a victory over North Dakota. Boston College has been the most successful Hockey East program in the NCAA tournament in this century.
The Eagles have won five NCAA titles overall and four in this century; 2001, 2008, 2010 and 2012. BC is tied for first with Michigan with 25 appearances in the Frozen Four. BC is third alltime with 36 tournament appearances.
“That was our first one here at BC in over 50 years and it was an incredible crowd and incredible venue and North Dakota was and outstanding opponent,” said York. “We are going back again and I love the brand name schools like Notre Dame and our focus is going to be right on that.”
BU has won five National Championships and is the only Eastern school to win back-to-back crowns in 197172 under coach Jack Kelley. The Terriers won three more under Jack Parker with the latest in 2009. The Terriers are making their 33rd appearance in the NCAA tournament and is tied with North Dakota for third with 22 trips to the Frozen Four.
“We are really excited to be selected to the tournament,” said BU coach Albie O’Connell. “It’s been kind of a crazy year for us and we are just trying to get better and working on our game.”
UMass is in the tournament for the second straight time and third time in program history and achieved a favorable seed by winning its first Hockey East title with a 1-0 victory over
UMass-Lowell on Saturday night. Junior left-wing Bobby Trivigno was named tournament MVP.
UMass advanced to the NCAA title game in 2019 led by defenseman Cale Makar, the school’s first Hobey Baker Award winner.
“I like our selection spot, I like our bracket and I like the location,” said UMass coach Greg Carvel. “We have two WCHA teams I don’t know anything about and it’s kind of fun to play some teams that you don’t come in contact with a lot.
“Experience will help a lot and our seniors know how we played in the NCAA, those kids are preaching how we to do it again.”
Atlantic Hockey champion American International (15-3-0) will face North Dakota in Fargo, North Dakota, on Friday, while Quinnipiac (17-7-4) will face Minnesota State in the Loveland (Colo.) Regional.