Boston University, Harvard, Merrimack earn spots in NCAA hockey tournament
BOSTON -- March is filled with madness from the hardwood. But it's about to get a little mad on the ice too, with the puck set to drop on the NCAA Men's Hockey Tournament later this week.
Massachusetts will be well represented in the tourney, with three local schools vying for a title: Boston University, Harvard, and Merrimack College.
Boston University
The Terriers are dancing (skating?) for the 38th time in program history and for the first time since 2021. BU finished the season 27-10-0 and won a Hockey East title for the 10th time with a thrilling overtime win over Merrimack on Saturday night. Freshman Lane Hutson scored the game-winner over the Warriors just 1:57 into overtime to lift Boston University to a 3-2 victory at TD Garden.
Now the two-seeded Terriers will face Western Michigan (23-14-1) in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. They'll take on the Broncos on Thursday afternoon at 2 p.m at SNHU Arena in Manchester, New Hampshire.
BU and WMU have met six times over the years, with each school winning three of those matchups. This will be the first time they square off since 1994, when the Terriers won 5-2. Current Boston University head coach Jay Pandolfo was a junior on that Terriers team, which went on to win the school's fourth NCAA title later that year.
Harvard University
The Crimson finished their season at 24-7-2 and are in the NCAA Tournament for the 27th time in program history. Harvard is making its sixth tourney appearance in the last eight years, and eighth overall under head coach Ted Donato.
Harvard is hot at the moment, having gone 16-4-1 since Jan. 1. The Crimson are the No. 2 seed in the Bridgeport Regional and will face Ohio State. The Buckeyes went 20-14-3 to receive an at-large bid and the No. 3 seed in Bridgeport.
The two schools will play at Total Mortgage Arena in Bridgeport, Connecticut on Friday at 2 p.m.
Merrimack College
After Harvard and Ohio State are done on Friday, Merrimack will get its turn in the tourney. The Warriors earned an at-large bid after going 23-13-1 during the season, and were named the No. 4 seed in the Bridgeport Regional.
There, the Warriors will face the Quinnipiac University Bobcats, who are the overall No. 2 seed after going 30-4-3 throughout the season. Quinnipiac possesses the nation's top-scoring defense (allowing just 1.59 goals per game) and the best scoring margin (2.32) in the country.
Merrimack and Quinnipiac will play Friday at 5:30 p.m., and the winner will play the victor of the Harvard-Ohio State matchup on Sunday for a trip to the Frozen Four.
This year's Frozen Four will take place on April 6 in Tampa, Florida, with the NCAA Championship game being held a few nights later on April 8.