Three of the top seeds in the NCAA Men's Hockey Tournament have advanced to the Frozen Four in Detroit, Michigan, but a pair of shocking upsets changed the landscape of the brackets over the weekend. In what proved to be an entertaining menu of match-ups with six of the eight opening-round games determined in the final minute, regional No. 1 seeds Miami-Ohio, Boston College and Wisconsin all escaped potential upsets and punched their ticket to Ford Field.
Joining the traditional powerhouses is the Cinderella of this year's ball, the Rochester Institute of Technology, who downed the top-seeded University of Denver Pioneers by a 2-1 score in opening round action on Friday night. RIT, who is playing in only their fifth season in Division I, then scored an impressive 6-2 victory over New Hampshire to advance to the Frozen Four.
In the second-round win over Wildcats, former Nanaimo Clippers forward Tyler Mazzei assisted on the game’s first goal and added a late marker himself, while Langley Chiefs grad Stevan Matic also tallied. The Tigers' extraordinary journey will continue against Wisconsin on April 8th.
The Yale Bulldogs provided the second upset of the weekend, knocking off North Dakota by 3-2 score in the first round a day after RIT pulled their magic against Denver. But their National Championship aspirations ended on Sunday when they lost 9-7 to Boston College.
For their part, the Eagles were seriously challenged in the first round by Alaska-Fairbanks, who competed until the final horn in their first-ever tournament appearance. The Nanooks entered the third tied 1-1 until Boston College scored the winner 3:46 into the final frame and added an empty-netter with 12 seconds left.
Wisconsin, the West’s No. 1 team, returns to the Frozen Four for the first time in four seasons after a pair of close games, starting with a narrow 3-2 victory over Vermont. In the opening-round win, former Westside Warriors defenseman Justin Schultz scored a power-play goal five minutes into the game and added an assist on Blake Geoffrion’s game-winner in the second.
The Badgers then took care of St. Cloud State 5-3 on Saturday afternoon in another close affair that came down to the final minute. The Huskies made it interesting down the stretch when Salmon Arm grad Tony Mosey cut the lead to 4-3 with 2:50 remaining. But the Badgers closed out the victory to advance to their first Frozen Four since winning the NCAA title in 2006.
The thrilling opening-round games were followed by an epic double overtime contest between Miami-Ohio and Michigan on Sunday. The top-ranked RedHawks pulled out a victory 3-2 and received a sizable contribution from former Penticton Vees forward Curtis McKenzie, who racked up two assists against the Wolverines.
