Cooper Flinton spent three seasons up front with Dartmouth (photo: Dartmouth Athletics).
Dartmouth junior forward Cooper Flinton has signed an NHL contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning following three seasons with the Big Green.
Flinton was selected by the Lightning in the seventh round (211th overall) of the 2021 NHL Draft prior to joining the Big Green.
The Auburn, N.H., native played three seasons with the Big Green and appeared in 89 games while scoring 32 goals and adding 32 assists.
He played in 27 games as a freshman in 2022-23 and scored six goals while dishing out nine assists. As a sophomore, he was second on the team in goals and points as he scored a career-high 15 points with 10 assists. In his final season with the Big Green in 2024-25, he scored 11 goals and added 13 assists. This season, he scored four power-play goals along with two short-handed goals.
In his career with Dartmouth, he tallied 11 power-play goals and five game-winning goals.
Flinton will join the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch for the remainder of the season.
Owen Say earned 10 wins in goal this season for Notre Dame (photo: Notre Dame Athletics).
After a successful junior campaign for Notre Dame, which included 10 wins in goal and a .920 save percentage, Owen Say has signed a one-year, two-way, deal with the NHL’s Calgary Flames.
Say led the team to the Big Ten tournament semifinals after backstopping the Irish to a series win on the road against then-No. 3 Minnesota behind a 99-save weekend versus the Golden Gophers. The London, Ont., native followed it up with a career-best 45 saves at then-No. 2 Michigan State in a 1-0 loss, holding one of the nation’s top offensive threats to just one power-play goal.
“I can’t thank everyone at Notre Dame enough for all the support I received throughout this past year,” Say said in a statement. “Ranging from Coach (Jeff) Jackson and the rest of the coaching staff to our trainer Kevin Ricks, strength and conditioning coach Tony Rolinski and especially my teammates, I am truly blessed to have been a part of the Fighting Irish and will cherish this year for the rest of my life. I’d also like to thank my family for everything they’ve done for me throughout my life. Without them, I wouldn’t be in this position. With that being said, I’m beyond excited to announce that I have signed with the Calgary Flames and can’t wait for what’s in store.”
In 25 starts for the Irish this past season, Say registered 829 saves and boasted a .920 save percentage. His 10 wins on the year include four over ranked opponents, all of whom were ranked in the top 10 at the time of the game.
Say joined the Irish after two years at Mercyhurst and concludes his collegiate career with a .914 save percentage and 3.09 goals-against average. In his year with the Irish, Say recorded a career-low 2.82 goals-against average and a collegiate-best save percentage. The junior was named a Mike Richter Award nominee this past season and earned co-goalie of the month honors in October by the Hockey Commissioners Association.
Hosts Jim Connelly, Derek Schooley, and Ed Trefzger review the games of the weekend and news of the week.
We begin with the unexpected firing of North Dakota head coach Brad Berry following his team’s loss in the NCHC semifinals. The discussion highlights Berry’s impressive career and the pressures inherent in coaching at North Dakota. We then shift focus to the NCAA Men’s Division I Tournament, analyzing each regional matchup and sharing insights on top teams, players, and possible upsets. We also discuss the Hobey Baker Award top 10, debating snubs and standout players. And Ed goes on an unusual (for him) rant.
This episode is sponsored by the NCAA Men’s Division I Frozen Four, April 10 and 12 in St. Louis. Get your tickets now at ncaa.com/frozenfour
Times are approximate:
00:00 Introduction and sponsorship announcements
00:40 USCHO Bracket Challenge
01:07 Breaking News: Brad Berry’s departure
02:21 Brad Berry’s legacy and iImpact
02:43 Coaching challenges at North Dakota
07:19 Potential candidates for North Dakota coaching job
13:41 NCAA Tournament Regionals Preview
13:53 Toledo Regional breakdown
17:39 Fargo Regional breakdown
20:27 Manchester Regional breakdown
26:30 Allentown Regional breakdown
31:15 Rejuvenation of Top Programs
34:31 Women’s National Championship Recap
35:52 Hobey Top 10 Discussion
50:14 Ed’s Hobey Baker Award rant
54:58 Regional Winners Predictions
56:45 USCHO Bracket Challenge
Bentley won the first Atlantic Hockey championship in program history with a 6-3 victory over Holy Cross at the Hart Center in Worcester, Mass., on Saturday night and earned the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament (photo: Ryan DeSantis).
Each week, USCHO.com will pick the top 10 moments from the past weekend in our Monday 10 feature.
1) Let’s have a tournament
The NCAA tournament bracket unveiling on Sunday afternoon carried the fanfare of a nationally-televised audience, but little drama existed about the 16-team field or their regional placements. Quinnipiac’s loss to Cornell in the ECAC Hockey semifinals removed the doubt that began the weekend swirling around the at-large bubble, and each of the six conferences crowned their respective champion without creating waves on the national radar.
Boston College wasn’t involved in the weekend, but the Eagles locked themselves into the No. 1 overall seed long before their Hockey East quarterfinal loss to Northeastern. As expected, BC earned its way to Manchester, N.H., while Michigan State, Maine and Western Michigan gained the remaining No. 1 seeds. From there, slotting teams into regionals became easy.
2) Black Bears roar
Hockey East built its reputation around its Massachusetts-centric heartbeat. Even in its initial expansion phase, the league only nominally spread away from the radial highways surrounding Greater Boston, and it took the 21st century additions of Vermont and Connecticut to create longer bus trips outside of Maine’s outlier status. As a result, the championship banner hanging in Boston’s TD Garden often held teams from the Hub’s area, and this year began with a 20-year drought for a championship born outside of the Bay State’s borders.
That long layoff was guaranteed to end after Connecticut and Maine won their respective semifinal games, but the tradition wrought by Black Bear hockey commandeered North Station to the tune of a decisive 5-2 rout. The team twice held three-goal leads and spent a marginal 10-plus minutes in a scoreless tie throughout the first period before claiming its sixth Hockey East championship.
Maine last won the title when Ben Murphy scored a triple-overtime goal to defeat UMass, so being forced to advance through a double overtime game against Northeastern at least provided an homage to the team’s past.
Goaltender Albin Boija, meanwhile, won his third and fourth Hockey East Championship tournament games. Now the No. 3 overall seed, the Black Bears head to the Allentown Regional and a first-round matchup with fourth-seeded and host Penn State.
3) Spartan spirit
Few things match the intensity of an overtime playoff winner. Fewer things match that intensity in front of a home crowd. Fewer things still match the feeling of a championship won in overtime in front of a home crowd.
Isaac Howard fully understands that feeling. His high slot slam past Logan Terness gave Michigan State its second straight Big Ten championship in front of Munn Arena’s white-cld crowd and sent the Spartans into the national tournament as the highest-ranked conference champion.
Going to double overtime only occurred because of a third period comeback capped by a late goal from Gunnarwolfe Fontaine. Having previously trailed twice by two goals, Ohio State scored late in the first period to halve Michigan State’s initial 2-0 lead before goals by Damien Carfagne and Fontaine moved the Buckeyes into overtime. From there, it was Howard’s second goal of the night that ended the dramatic theater and sent East Lansing into delirium.
4) Falcons fly
Another two-goal deficit in the first period occurred in Atlantic Hockey America, but Bentley’s rally to take a 3-2 lead in the second period anchored the Falcons to a 6-3 win and their first-ever Division I conference tournament championship and the only title clinched over the weekend by a true road team.
Holy Cross had opened the game with a pair of power play goals, but adding a third power play goal in the third period did little to stop the third-seeded Falcons from motoring through the Hart Center. Billed as a top matchup between the league’s preeminent goaltenders, the six goals scored by Bentley topped the Crusaders’ defensive allotment for the season.
Both programs previously met for the 2006 championship, but Holy Cross was playing in its second championship game in three years. Bentley, meanwhile, finished in one of the league’s two bottom spots in 2023 and was previously voted to finish dead last ahead of the 2023-2024 season. Having now capped their season turnaround, the Falcons moved into the No. 16 spot among qualified teams, which in turn guaranteed a game against No. 1 Boston College.
5) One for the Big Red road
Mike Schafer infamously began his head coaching career at Cornell by winning back-to-back championships. As his career wound down in Ithaca, the longtime leader of the defending champion Big Red sought to replicate that success before bowing out of the national spotlight.
Achieving the mountaintop required the sixth-seeded team to eliminate the league’s first and second place teams in the semifinal and championship rounds. Having first vanquished Quinnipiac, the Big Red scored twice in the first period to stake a 2-0 lead over Clarkson in Saturday’s championship game, and Ryan Walsh’s late third period goal sealed a 3-1 win that allowed Schafer to hoist the Whitelaw Cup for a second consecutive – and final – year.
Winning the championship had a downstream impact on the Pairwise Rankings because the Big Red vaulted into the No. 15 spot among qualified teams. As a result, Michigan fell out of the tournament, and Cornell drew No. 2 Michigan State in the Ohio-based regional in Toledo.
6) Controversy avoided
The draconian rules facing St. Thomas turned the CCHA’s championship into a bit of an anticlimactic affair, but whatever controversy could have arisen from a victory for the tournament-ineligible Tommies ended when Minnesota State claimed a 4-2 victory in Mankato.
The Mavericks, for what it’s worth, didn’t lead until the latter stages of the third period, and the game produced a back-and-forth affair throughout the second period. A scoreless first was a 0-0 stalemate, but Matthew Gleason staked his team to a 1-0 lead in the first half of the second period. Luigi Benincasa’s power-play goal evened things up three minutes later, but Kaden Bohlsen’s goal with under seven minutes remaining didn’t last into the locker room because of Liam Malmquist’s own power play goal.
Ending the second period in another tie game, Minnesota State grabbed the lead on Evan Murr’s goal at the halfway point before sealing the CCHA title with another late one.
It was Minnesota State’s third championship in the four-year span since the conference’s reformation and sent the Mavericks towards their aforementioned tournament berth. They now face No. 4 Western Michigan in the Fargo regional hosted by North Dakota.
7) Speaking of North Dakota
The next axe of the offseason coaching carousel swung on Sunday night when the University of North Dakota announced that head coach Brad Berry would not return after 10 seasons in Grand Forks. The leader of the 2016 national champion, the announcement caught plenty of people by surprise but came on the heels of North Dakota missing the national tournament for the second time in three years.
The former assistant coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets was in his second stint with North Dakota after twice returning to his alma mater as an assistant coach. The top assistant to Dave Hakstol became the head coach when Hakstol departed for the NHL, and his first season completed a mission that began when the program achieved consecutive Frozen Four appearances in Hakstol’s last two years.
A five-time regular-season champion of the league, he was twice named Herb Brooks Coach of the Year as the NCHC’s best bench boss and shared the Spencer Penrose Award with Cornell’s Mike Schafer as the best coach in college hockey in 2020.
8) Meanwhile, Western went No. 1
Lost in that shuffle was Western Michigan’s first-ever NCHC championship win. The two-time CCHA champions from the pre-realignment era were bound to the No. 1 seed when the conference’s final field traveled to the Twin Cities, but it took a three-goal comeback in the third period and a double overtime winner by Alex Bump to eliminate Denver and clinch sweet revenge for 2022’s loss to Minnesota Duluth.
Bump scored twice in the 4-3 win, but the real impact occurred when the Broncos leapfrogged Minnesota for the No. 4 overall seed in the tournament. Granted No. 1 status, their movement to Fargo as the top seed guaranteed a matchup against Minnesota State where remaining as a No. 2 seed would have flipped them into a game against third-seeded UMass. Instead, it’s Minnesota’s turn to play the Minutemen while the Broncos draw the Mavericks in the first round.
9) Who’s in and who’s out?
Boston College, Minnesota and Penn State all failed to advance to their conference semifinal round, but little drama forced the three teams to sweat out results throughout the week after it became apparent that too few low seeds advanced to their respective championship games. BC was already the No. 1 seed, and the lone storyline encompassing Minnesota flip-flopped the Gophers with Western in the Fargo regional.
Penn State entered the week with an outside possibility at missing the national tournament, but the Nittany Lions remained in the field after Northeastern lost its semifinal game to Maine. They remained as the No. 4 seed but were already locked into the Allentown regional as the host site.
Quinnipiac, meanwhile, survived to advance to the tournament as a No. 4 seed after both Arizona State and North Dakota lost in the NCHC semifinals, though the Bobcats lost to Cornell and ended another ECAC postseason without trophy hardware.
Michigan wasn’t so lucky. Already on tenuous ground, the Wolverines needed Hockey East, the NCHC and ECAC to advance their top seeds to the championship game. When Quinnipiac lost the ECAC semifinal, the Wolverines were effectively out of the tournament while ECAC indirectly became a two-bid league – the same number as the NCHC.
10) Eight ball, side pocket
Wisconsin women’s hockey head coach Mark Johnson leaned over his bench and asked which player wanted to take a penalty shot with under 20 seconds remaining in the third period of the 2025 NCAA Division I women’s national championship game against Ohio State.
Almost immediately, Kirsten Simms raised her hand. A Buckeye player had closed her hand over the puck on the goal line in a one-goal game, and the moment would hang the national championship in the balance.
Simms deked around Amanda Thiele to score the game-tying goal, but she etched her name into the college hockey annals by later scoring a put-back rebound in overtime to touch off the celebration of a 4-3 win.
The Badgers previously trailed by a 3-1 deficit but used a second period goal to cut into the lead ahead of the third period.
The win handed Wisconsin its eighth national championship, the most among women’s hockey programs.
Hobart’s Luke Aquaro rifled the game-winning goal past the Trine netminder in overtime to give the Statesmen a 3-2 win over Trine in the NCAA quarterfinals (Photo by Kevin Colton/HWS Athletics)
The quarterfinal round shaped up with the top two seeds joining the action in the tournament while three of the four contests featured east v. west matchups that was expected to and did create a lot of excitement. They say the worse lead in hockey is a two-goal lead and the teams from the west all held that advantage or more in their games that eventually saw the east teams rally for wins that make the Frozen Four a full east playoff featuring Curry, Geneseo, Hobart and Utica. Amazing and exciting hockey that included intense third period rallies and an overtime game to determine a winner. Here is the wrap-up for the full slate of NCAA quarterfinal action in chronological order from Saturday:
St. Norbert v. Utica
The Green Knights traveled to Utica for a 1 PM matinee game on Saturday and both teams showed up in full force for the early start in a contest that featured pace, physicality and amazingly, zero penalties.
It was the visitors who drew first blood early with Brock Baker’s unassisted goal giving St. Norbert an early 1-0 lead. Despite pressure by both teams at both ends of the ice, the score stood until the final minute of the period when Jakob Breault tied the score for Utica to level the game after one period at 1-1.
Like Baker, Calvin Hansen gave the lead back to the Green Knights just over three minutes into the idle period and Carter Hottman extended the advantage to 3-1 with a goal assisted by Logan Dombrowsky and Liam Fraser with less than five minutes remaining in the second period. Just over one minute later Breault setup Drake Morse for a goal to cut the deficit to one goal setting up an exciting third period of action.
Breault again solved St. Norbert netminder Hunter Garvey to tie the score at 3-3 at the eight minute mark of the final period with both teams applying sustained pressure looking for the advantage on the scoreboard. With over ten minutes remaining in regulation, Gabriel Lundberg gave Utica their first advantage of the contest and goaltender Ryan Piros and a stout defense held on with Aiden Hughes scoring an empty-net goal for the final 5-3 margin.
“It was an emotional win,” stated Utica head coach Gary Heenan. “So fun.”
Garvey finished with thirty-three saves for St. Norbert, including twenty in the second period while Piros stopped twenty-four St. Norbert attempts to pick up the victory. Utica will host the Frozen Four and has a semifinal date with top seed Curry who advanced with a win over Utica.
Hamilton v. Curry
Top seed Curry took to the ice against first round winner Hamilton and the visitors came out with jump and the advantage early on the shot count. Hamilton launched eighteen shots at Shane Soderwall in the opening period that saw the Colonels kill three penalties and escape the period tied at 0-0.
In the second period it seemed the action was all slanted towards the same end of the ice as Curry found some jump in their game and an aggressive forecheck led to a turnover that Tauron Haddon-Harris rifled a shot short side off the post in past Hamilton netminder Charlie Archer for a 1-0 lead just over two minutes into the period. Less than five minutes later Nolan McDonough skated into the zone cut across the slot and buried a backhand shot just over Archer’s pad on the glove side for a 2-0 lead that closed out the scoring in the second period.
Hamilton came out determined to score in the final period and NESCAC Player-of-the-Year, Luke Tchor finally solved Soderwall just over a minute into the third period with assists from Ben Zimmerman and James Philpott to close the gap to one goa at 2-1. The visitors continued to press but Soderwall and the Colonels held Hamilton at bay before Haddon-Harris extended the lead to 3-1 and Grady Friedman iced the contest with an empty-net goal and over three minutes remaining in regulation time.
“We really took advantage of the week off to get healthy and rest,” stated Crry head coach Peter Roundy. “We started out a little slow, a step behind and took some uncharacteristic penalties but Shane [Soderwall] was great and the penalty kill came up big to keep the game scoreless which felt like a win for us after the first twenty minutes. We got things going in the second period and held them off in the third period for a big win. It is special that this is our first Frozen Four at Curry in this our 50th season with college hockey.”
Curry skated off with the 4-1 win and advances to their very first Frozen Four and a date with Utica on Friday.
Trine v. Hobart
The NEHC and defending national champions were also coming off a bye week and facing a Trine team that took care of business on home ice against Oswego in the first round.
After a scoreless first period that saw both teams feeling out the game and each other, it was the visiting Thunder that scored first on a power play goal by Logan Furstenau less than four minutes into the game action. Despite chances at both ends that goaltenders Ronnie Petrucci (Trine) and Damon Beaver (Hobart) held out of the net, Sam Antenucci scored for a 2-0 Trine advantage that stood as the margin entering the third period.
Hobart’s Luke Aquaro wasted no time scoring just twenty-seven seconds into the third period and Dominic Schimizzi leveled the game at 2-2 just three minutes later to get the “Cooler Crazies” back into the game as both teams challenged the opposition netminders with great chances in the second half of the third period. No one could net the deciding goal sending the contest to overtime.
Last season it took Hobart four overtimes to win over Curry in the quarterfinal round, but this year the winning goal was found in the first overtime with Luke Aquaro taking the puck off a defensive turnover and firing the winning goal past Petrucci over his shoulder on the short-side for a 3-2 win just under ten minutes into bonus hockey.
“Luke stepped up in a big way for us,” said Hobart head coach Mark Taylor. “Not the way we planned it but hopefully will add to us moving forward.”
Petrucci finished the game with thirty-eight saves for Trine while Beaver recorded twenty-three to earn the win for the Statesmen.
Hobart will face Geneseo in the second semifinal on Friday, March 28.
Geneseo v. Aurora
In the final quarterfinal game hosted by Aurora, Geneseo fell behind by a 3-0 margin with Chase Broda, Luciano Santalucia and Landry Schmuck pacing the Spartans to an early lead with less than four minutes remaining in the second period. Alex Dameski and Luke Panchisin answered late in the middle period to close the gap to 3-2, setting up a dramatic third period between two offensive powerhouse teams.
“I think the two quick goals at the end of the second period was a turning point for us,” said Geneseo head coach Chris Schultz. “I liked the way we were playing even when we got down 3-0.”
In the third period, Aurora extended the advantage to 4-2 as Andrew Schultz scored just over four minutes after the puck drop of the final period. Panchisin wasted no time in answering just forty-three seconds later and Jack McDonald tied the game at 4-4 midway through the period. Dameski, with an assist from MacDonald gave the Knights their first lead of the night and two empty net goals from Filip Wiberg closed out the scoring for a 7-4 Geneseo win.
Dameski, Panchisin and Wiberg each scored two goals while goaltender Adam Harris recorded twenty-six saves to earn the win. JaCob Mucitelli stopped twenty-eight shots for Aurora in the loss.
Three Biscuits
Luke Aquaro – Hobart – the senior forward scored two goals including the overtime winner to rally Hobart to a come-from-behind 3-2 win over Trine on Saturday night.
Tauron Haddon-Harris – Curry – scored a pair of goals to pace the Colonels’ attack in a 4-1 win over Hamilton on Saturday leading Curry to their first Frozen Four.
Jakob Breault – Utica – paced the Pioneer attack in a 5-3 comeback victory over St. Norbert on Saturday. Breault scored two goals and added an assist in the win over the Green Knights.
Bonus Biscuit
Alex Dameski – Geneseo – scored two goals, including the eventual game-winner as the Knights rallied from a 3-0 deficit to post a 7-4 win over Aurora on Saturday night.
Two-goal leads are the most dangerous lead in hockey and we saw three of four such leads slip away on Saturday leading to an all-east Frozen Four this upcoming weekend hosted by Utica and including fellow New York State teams Geneseo and Hobart to challenge top seed Curry. That should be a great finale to what has been a truly amazing season.
While I have given past kudos to the NCAA for setting up a terrific tournament bracket this year, I would be remiss if I didn’t point out the challenge that a non-pre-determined host for the Frozen Four creates on the eventual host with less than a week to plan. No team or their coaching staff should have to be challenged by the short timeframe, availability of hotel accommodations actually with proximity to the event location or the stress of trying to do what is best for the student athletes who should be enjoying the accomplishment and thrill of playing on the ultimate national stage for a championship. Here’s hoping that soon we get the complimentary great bracket and pre-determined site to eliminate external distractions from what has been a terrific post-season on the ice – just like all the fans hoped it would be!
The Minnesota Golden Gophers dropped to a two seed in the Fargo Region and will face Massachusetts on Thursday evening in the NCAA Tournament. The tournament field was announced on Sunday (File photo: Jim Rosvold)
Seeding this year’s NCAA Division I men’s ice hockey championship was “pretty straightforward,” that according to Tim Troville, senior associate director of athletics at Harvard and Chair of the NCAA Division I men’s ice hockey committee.
“It was pretty straightforward compared to previous years,” said Troville, now in his third season as a member of the committee and first year as chair. “That’s where the PairWise and the way we try to maintain bracket integrity help us out a lot.”
But Troville said ticket sales for this year’s regionals have been decent and the fields at each site include a team or teams whose fanbases will help drive attendance.
“College hockey is reaching a peak of popularity across the board,” Troville said. “We feel pretty good going into today where we are in regional [attendance]. We’re looking forward to venues that are lively.”
Because there was little the committee needed to do to increase attendance, there were fewer swaps of teams. One swap that did not occur but was being tossed around in social media channels on Saturday evening was the thought of sending Maine to the Manchester Region and shipping top seed Boston College to Allentown.
Friday’s Hockey East championship game at TD Garden where more than 10,000 (possibly more) of the 17,000 plus fans in attendance were clad in Black Bears gear proved that fan base is still one that can mobilize. SNHU Arena in Manchester lists a capacity of 10,019 for hockey. With Maine there that is almost guaranteed a sellout.
But shifting Maine to Manchester and sending top seed Boston College to Allentown to face region host Penn State would have been beyond unfair to the tournament’s top overall seed.
“We considered everything and some things more briefly than others,” said Troville. “For us, having Maine in Allentown was the best solution. We really wanted to consider doing a great service for our membership by considering the bracket before we issued it.”
The start times for the games will once again be staggered, beginning at 2 p.m. each weekday (Thursday and Friday) with slots at 2:00, 5:00, 5:30 and 8:30 p.m. ET each day. Regional final times are listed as to be determined by the NCAA at this point.
All 15 games of the tournament will air on the ESPN family of networks with 13 of those 15 games available linearly on ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPNews.
Denver and Western Michigan met in Saturday night’s NCHC championship game with the Broncos winning in double overtime (photo: Tim Brule).
Here is a rundown of how the top 20 teams in the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Hockey Poll of March 17 fared in games over the weekend of March 21-22.
No. 1 Michigan State (26-6-4)
03/22/2025 – No. 9 Ohio State 3 at No. 1 Michigan State 4 (2OT, Big Ten Championship)
No. 2 Boston College (26-7-2)
Did not play.
No. 3 Western Michigan (30-7-1)
03/21/2025 – No. 17 North Dakota 2 vs No. 3 Western Michigan 4 (NCHC Semifinal, St. Paul, Minn.)
03/22/2025 – No. 6 Denver 3 vs No. 3 Western Michigan 4 (2OT, NCHC Championship, St. Paul, Minn.)
No. 4 Maine (24-7-6)
03/20/2025 – RV Northeastern 3 vs No. 4 Maine 4 (2OT, Hockey East Semifinal, Boston)
03/21/2025 – No. 7 Connecticut 2 vs No. 4 Maine 5 (Hockey East Championship, Boston)
No. 5 Minnesota (25-10-4)
Did not play.
No. 6 Denver (29-11-1)
03/21/2025 – No. 6 Denver 4 vs No. 11 Arizona State 2 (NCHC Semifinal, St. Paul, Minn.)
03/22/2025 – No. 6 Denver 3 vs No. 3 Western Michigan 4 (2OT, NCHC Championship, St. Paul, Minn)
No. 7 Connecticut (22-11-4)
03/20/2025 – No. 7 Connecticut 5 vs No. 8 Boston University 2 (Hockey East Semifinal, Boston)
03/21/2025 – No. 7 Connecticut 2 vs No. 4 Maine 5 (Hockey East Championship, Boston)
No. 8 Boston University (21-13-2)
03/20/2025 – No. 7 Connecticut 5 vs No. 8 Boston University 2 (Hockey East Semifinal, Boston)
No. 9 Ohio State (24-13-2)
03/22/2025 – No. 9 Ohio State 3 at No. 1 Michigan State 4 (2OT, Big Ten Championship)
No. 10 Providence (21-10-5)
Did not play.
No. 11 Arizona State (21-14-2)
03/21/2025 – No. 6 Denver 4 vs No. 11 Arizona State 2 (NCHC Semifinal, St. Paul, Minn.)
No. 12 Quinnipiac (24-11-2)
03/21/2025 – RV Cornell 3 vs No. 12 Quinnipiac 2 (OT, ECAC Semifinal, Lake Placid, N.Y.)
No. 13 Penn State (20-13-4)
Did not play.
No. 14 Massachusetts (20-13-5)
Did not play.
No. 15 Minnesota State (27-8-3)
03/21/2025 – RV St. Thomas 2 at No. 15 Minnesota State 4 (CCHA Championship)
No. 16 Michigan (18-15-3)
Did not play.
No. 17 North Dakota (21-15-2)
03/21/2025 – No. 17 North Dakota 2 vs No. 3 Western Michigan 4 (NCHC Semifinal, St. Paul, Minn.)
No. 18 Clarkson (24-12-3)
03/21/2025 – RV Dartmouth 1 vs No. 18 Clarkson 4 (ECAC Semifinal, Lake Placid, N.Y.)
03/22/2025 – RV Cornell 3 vs No. 18 Clarkson 1 (ECAC Championship, Lake Placid, N.Y.)
Brad Berry coaches his last game with North Dakota, March 21, 2025 during the NCHC Frozen Faceoff at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn. (photo: Jim Rosvold).
North Dakota announced on Sunday evening that Brad Berry, who just completed his 10th season behind the Fighting Hawks bench, will not return next season.
Dane Jackson will serve as the interim head coach.
“Coach Berry has had a tremendous decade run at his alma mater,” said UND director of athletics Bill Chaves in a statement. “Not many coaches win a national title and he’s one of a very few. His time will be cherished, but today was the right time to move in a new direction for UND hockey.”
Berry guided North Dakota to 10 winning seasons, amassing a 227-119-35 overall record to rank fourth all-time in program history in wins. He also captured five NCHC Penrose Cups, one NCHC Frozen Faceoff crown, five NCAA tournament appearances and became the first and only head coach in NCAA Division I men’s hockey history to win a national title in his first season in 2015-16.
This past season, North Dakota lost in the NCHC semifinals to eventual champion Western Michigan and didn’t qualify for the NCAA tournament, finishing with a 21-15-2 record (14-9-1 NCHC).
The national search for the program’s next head coach will commence immediately.
MINNEAPOLIS — The Wisconsin Badgers earned their eighth title on Sunday, coming from behind to defeat Ohio State 4-3 in overtime at Ridder Arena on the campus of the University of Minnesota.
The Badgers tied the game on a penalty shot with just 18.9 seconds left on the clock after Mark Johnson’s coaches challenge revealed Ohio State’s Maddi Wheeler had covered the puck with her hand in the crease.
Kirsten Simms buried the penalty shot to force overtime.
The game broadcast showed Johnson asking his team “Who wants it?” in reference to the penalty shot and Simms’ hand shooting up, but after the game she said her initial inclination was not to put herself in that situation.
But her teammates were chanting her name and hyping her up.
“We know she’s the best goal scorer on the team, so we had to let her know and remind her and tell her she’s clutch,” said Laila Edwards.
Johnson said he put the question to the players on who wanted to shoot because he knew confidence was the most important part of the equation.
“I wanted to see who wanted to step up and own it and who felt comfortable in this setting, because you can’t have one ounce of negativity in your mind as you pick the puck up. It’s got to be all positive,” he said.
Though she didn’t start there, the support from her teammates got Simms there and had her shooting her hand up when the question came from her coach.
Both goalie Ava McNaughton and Johnson admitted after the game that they did not watch Simms take the shot.
“I knew that she she has so many moves up her sleeve and it’s so difficult to defend her on a shoot out. I knew that she had everything she needed in her toolbox and I didn’t need to look. All I needed to hear was the crowd and I knew that it was going to go in,” said McNaughton.
Simms said she didn’t overthink what move she was going to use on the play, but it turns out the last successful penalty shot the Badgers scored was put in by Kirsten Simms – and she scored it on Thiele with a move that looked similar to Sunday’s – with one exception. On Sunday, Simms pulled the puck back across to her forehand to score.
It was Edwards that alerted Johnson to the fact that he should call for a challenge on the play.
“Harvey gave me a really good feed. I tried to put it in the net, but didn’t. I saw the puck was loose somewhere and then I saw one of their players put their hand over it in the crease. I started yelling at the ref ‘She’s covering it, she’s covering it’ and they said ‘no, no,’ so as soon as the whistle blew I went right to the bench and said, ‘Coach you have to challenge that,'” said Edwards.
In the extra frame, Lacey Eden’s shot was kick saved by Amanda Thiele, but the puck came out to Simms, who put it into the net to give UW the win.
After the game, Johnson was still processing the chaos of the final few minutes of the game.
“I’m still trying to process the whole last 18 seconds of the third period, and then over time, and obviously, we found a way to win. I don’t think we played one of our better games, but as they told the team a few minutes ago, they figured out how to get to the finish line. I’ve always said, ‘Monday always comes.’ Well, Monday’s coming tomorrow, and you’ve got the national championship trophy back in Mad-town, so it’s a good day,” he said.
The game was a showcase of what makes NCAA women’s hockey great and it took every bit of the 62:49 minutes to decide a winner. The game was fast and frenetic, with skilled goals, great goaltending and a finish that Hollywood wishes it could write.
For all the joy of the Badgers, it was an exceptionally tough way for the Buckeyes to lose a game they all but had wrapped up. A too many skater penalty had Wisconsin on the power play to close out regulation, which allowed them to pepper the net and led to the play where Wheeler put her hand on the puck.
“There’s not a lot to really say after a tough loss. These are fantastic human beings. I think they played phenomenal tonight. It’s the way we lost with 18 seconds left. It was an unfortunate outcome,” said OSU coach Nadine Muzerall.
Ohio State played the game they wanted to play for 59 minutes Sunday. Their call-word is “relentless” and it was on full display. They dominated the neutral zone and stopped Wisconsin from ever really getting settled into their game. They forced turnovers, kept them from the zone and absolutely check the top offense in the country in check.
Muzerall wondered after the game if she should have challenged Simms’ penalty shot. The Ohio State staff felt like Simms pulled the puck backwards, something the rules prohibit, but she said she didn’t feel like there was clear video evidence and having already used her timeout, would have been in a six-on-three situation if she failed, serving two penalties and with Wisconsin having pulled their goalie for an extra attacker.
“Going in overtime with them tying it so late, it was hard. We knew that there was a momentum shift. We talked about that all weekend, but we knew that right from the jump we had to get on it. We had to get that momentum back. And unfortunately, we couldn’t grasp it,” said Buckeye defender Emma Peschel.
Joy Dunne opened the scoring just seconds into the first power play of the game, taking a pass from Jenna Buglioni and skating through the entire Badger team on her way to the net. She pulled UW goalie Ava McNaughton to her right before switching the puck back to her left and pushing it around McNaughton and into the net.
On the ensuing play and with her team still on the power play, Laila Edwards won the puck in the neutral zone and took it straight to net, beating Amanda Thiele to tie the game 1-1. They were the fastest consecutive back to back goals from opposing teams in women’s Frozen Four history.
Ohio State took a 2-1 lead into the first break thanks to Sloane Matthews, who stole the puck off Edwards at center ice and headed straight at McNaughton, beating her top shelf, far corner with about five minutes left in the frame.
They extended it just 10 seconds into the second as Makenna Webster’s centering shot from behind the net deflected into the circle where Emma Peschel stepped up and smoked a shot to give OSU a 3-1 lead.
Harvey brought the lead back down to one a few minutes later on a rocket of her own after Kirsten Simms used some fancy stick work to hold on to the puck in traffic and lay it off to Harvey.
In a season where she sometimes struggled with finding her role after being the team’s leading scorer last season, Simms came up big in two massive situations to carry her team to the title. But continuing a theme from the Badgers throughout the season and especially in the NCAA Tournament, Simms said it wasn’t about her and more about the fact that the team completed their goal.
“It still hasn’t really totally set in with me, and at the end of the day, I’m just super happy that we’re bringing that trophy back to Madison. I mean, no matter how the job got done, it got done, and we’re taking that trophy home with us,” said Simms.
The win was the culmination of the best seasons in Wisconsin women’s hockey history. They finish the season 38-1-2, setting a new program record for wins in a season. They have the Patty Kazmaier winner and the other top two finalist. They have four first-team All-Americans and the Goaltender of the Year. They didn’t always play their best games, Johnson said, but they were consistent and consistently got results.
“You start with this blank canvas at the beginning of the year, and then you start to paint this picture of what the year is going to look like and what’s going to transpire. We get to the end, and we’re playing the national championship game… and Today, we got a masterpiece.”
Hosts Jim Connelly, Derek Schooley, and Ed Trefzger review the championship games of the weekend and look at the 2025 NCAA men’s D-I hockey brackets.
Notable tournament outcomes include Maine’s victory in Hockey East, Cornell’s success in the ECAC, and Western Michigan’s NCHC title. They discuss the implications of the bracket setup, team matchups, and potential underdog threats. The episode concludes with a preview of their upcoming in-depth analysis of the four regions and matchups in Monday’s regularly-scheduled episode.
This episode is sponsored by the NCAA Men’s Division I Frozen Four, April 10 and 12 in St. Louis. Get your tickets now at ncaa.com/frozenfour
Boston College enters the 2025 NCAA Division I ice hockey championship as the top seed and will face Bentley in Manchester, N.H., on Friday (File photo: Boston College athletics)
The field for the 2025 NCAA Division I men’s national championship is set with very few surprises. Boston College, Michigan State, Maine and Western Michigan are the four regional top seeds, while Bentley and Connecticut and both making the first appearances in their program’s history.
Top-seed Boston College will face Bentley in the opening game in Manchester, N.H., on Friday at 2:00 p.m. ET. Providence and defending national champion Denver will meet in the other semifinal at 5:30 p.m. ET, setting up a potential rematch of last year’s national title game between BC and Denver.
The tournament will begin in Toledo, Ohio, which is hosting its second NCAA regional. Boston University and Ohio State will square off on Thursday at 2:00 p.m. ET. Big Ten champion Michigan State will take on ECAC tournament champ Cornell at 5:30 p.m.
The other Thursday/Saturday region in Fargo, N.D., features NCHC champion Western Michigan as its top seed. They will face CCHA champion Minnesota State at 5:00 p.m. ET while Minnesota and Massachusetts square off in the nightcap at 8:30 p.m.
The final region to get underway will play Friday-Sunday in Allentown, Pa. Connecticut and Quinnipiac play in the early semifinal at 5:00 p.m. ET, while Maine and region host Penn State will battle at 8:30 p.m.
The four regional champions will advance to the Frozen Four in St. Louis on April 10 and 12. Game times for the Frozen Four will be announced at a later date.
(2) Ohio State vs. (1) Wisconsin Sunday at 3 p.m. central on ESPNU and ESPN+
3 Keys for Wisconsin
Score first. Yes, the Badgers have come from behind a bunch lately, but just because they can doesn’t mean they should. Ohio State is going to grab ahold of every bit of momentum and power in this game they can and an early goal from them gives them a chance to push even more and really lean on their strong forecheck. It feels like every second of this game is going to matter and the Badgers don’t want to spent a bunch of that time playing catch up. In their win over UW early in the season, OSU went up 2-0 10 minutes into the game.
Win the neutral zone. Wisconsin wants to move quickly in transition and break out through the middle of the ice and Ohio State is one of the teams that is very good at tripping them up with that. They have a massive forecheck and want to slow UW from gaining the zone and getting set up.
Meet the moment. Wisconsin has come from behind, stuck to their game plan, played free and not gotten rattled all season. This is what they’ve been fighting for. Build off the crowd, don’t overthink it and trust the belief they’ve had in each other all season.
3 keys for Ohio State
Clean defense. The Buckeyes have to take care of the puck – no turnovers on defense, getting the puck out of the zone quickly and not giving up second- and third-chance opportunities in front of the net. Amanda Thiele has to play as well as she ever has in net, limit rebounds and be smart about where she directs the puck.
Special teams. In the game OSU beat Wisconsin, the Badgers’ only two goals came on the power play. They did a great job of shutting UW down, but let them back in with those opportunities. The game-winning goal came short-handed for OSU. They have to excel on both sides of penalty situations and they also have to play smart and limit their penalties, as well.
Lean in to the narrative. Wisconsin is the favorites and it appears they’ll have a big crowd of fans in the building. They’ve gotten all the attention and Ohio State would love nothing more than to play villain here. Embrace the underdog mentality, let the chip on their shoulder drive you and revel in when they can quiet the crowd.
Jackson Dorrington skated three seasons on the Northeastern back end (photo: Jim Pierce).
The NHL’s New York Rangers have announced that the team has agreed to terms with Northeastern junior defenseman Jackson Dorrington on a three-year, entry-level contract.
Dorrington will report to the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack on an amateur tryout for the remainder of this season.
Dorrington tallied two goals and 13 assists for 15 points in 37 games for Northeastern this season.
In three collegiate seasons, the North Reading, Mass., native notched eight goals and 25 assists for 33 points in 105 games along with a plus-17 rating.
Dorrington was originally selected by the Vancouver Canucks in the sixth round (176th overall) of the 2022 NHL Draft. His rights were acquired by the Rangers on Jan. 31, 2025 in the JT Miller trade.
Aurora’s NCAA tourney run came to an end Saturday against Geneseo. (Photo Credit: Steve Woltmann/Aurora Athletics)
At one point Saturday night on its home ice, Aurora had momentum and hopes of an NCAA Division III Frozen Four trip intact.
The fifth-ranked Spartans led SUNY Geneseo 3-0 late in the second period and 4-2 early in the third. And then the heartbreak unfolded.
The No. 4 Ice Knights wouldn’t go away and eventually tied the game. Then, with a little over four minutes to play, they took the lead and never looked back. A couple of empty-net goals in the final minutes made the 7-4 score look a little more decisive than it truly was.
With that, the Spartans’ special year comes to a close. It was a year where they won a program-record 24 games and played in the NCAA tournament for the first time.
This was a game that seemed destined to end differently early on. Chase Broda scored with under two minutes to play in the first and Juliano Santalucia scored only 30 seconds into the second to extend the Aurora lead to 2-0.
Later in the period, Landry Schmuck, the team’s leading goal scorer, found the back of the net for the 31st time this season to stretch Aurora’s lead to 3-0.
Geneseo refused to fold, pulling within one before the end of the second, but the Spartans answered four minutes into the third for a 4-2 lead thanks to a goal by Andrew Schultz.
What the Spartans couldn’t do, however, was hold the lead. Aurora finished with a 30-28 advantage in shots and JaCob Mucitelli made 28 saves. Santalucia also recorded an assist in addition to his goal.
The loss at home for Aurora was only its second of the season and the Spartans finished the year winning 14 of their final 17 games, losing only twice after the calendar flipped to 2025. Aurora ends the year at 24-5-1.
Thunder nearly pull off upset of top-ranked team
Forget that Trine was on the road against the No. 1 team in the country and two-time reigning champs.
That didn’t matter to the Thunder, who put up a fight right up until the end in a 3-2 overtime loss to Hobart Saturday night at The Cooler.
Playing in its second ever NCAA tournament game, the seventh-ranked Thunder, after a scoreless first period, struck first off a goal by Logan Furstenau. Sam Antenucci pushed the lead to 2-0.
That lead would hold until the third when the Statesmen scored twice to tie the game and send this showdown into overtime, where Trine’s dream of playing in the Frozen Four melted away.
Ronnie Petrucci was stellar in defeat, making 38 saves. The defense in front of him rose to the occasion as well, recording 16 blocks, the Thunder sticking to a defense effort that has served them well all season. Tim Organ led Trine with three blocks.
Even in defeat, it’s been quite a year for Trine, which won a program-record 21 games. The Thunder finish the year at 21-7-2. Include in that win total is Trine’s first ever NCAA tourney win as the Thunder opened the postseason with a 4-1 win over Oswego last weekend.
Green Knights fall short of Frozen Four bid
It was a matchup of two of D-III hockey’s premier programs. St. Norbert facing off against Utica on the road in a showdown featuring two programs with nearly 1,100 wins between them over the course of their histories.
Aurora’s NCAA tourney run came to an end Saturday against Geneseo. (Photo Credit: Steve Woltmann/Aurora Athletics)
This game had high stakes, a trip to the national semifinals on the line, and the No. 3 Green Knights led 3-2 going to the final period.
That’s when the momentum changed. The sixth-ranked Pioneers scored three goals in the third and skated to a 5-3 win.
For St. Norbert, which started the year 12-0 and ends it with 24 wins, only six losses and one tie, it was a heartbreaking ending to the season.
For a while, it looked like things would play out differently. Brock Baker gave St. Norbert the early lead before Utica tied it. It was 1-1 at the end of one.
Goals by Calvin Hanson and Carter Hottmann pushed the St. Norbert lead to 3-1 but Utica cut the lead to 3-2 going to the final period.
St. Norbert was outshot 38-27 but Hunter Garvey made 33 saves. Baker tallied an assist to go along with his goal.
The loss to Utica was the first for the Green Knights since Jan. 25. St. Norbert came into the night on an 11-game unbeaten streak.
While the Green Knights will have to wait another year to make a run at the program’s first national title since 2018, they did repeat as champions of the NCHA, which is quite the accomplishment considering three teams from the league made the NCAA tourney.
The quarter of Wisconsin players to be named first team All-Americans for the 2024-25 season (photos: Wisconsin Athletics).
Wisconsin dominates the 2025 AHCA/CCM All-American teams announced Saturday by the American Hockey Coaches Association and chosen by the nation’s Division I head coaches.
Western Michigan erupts after Alex Bump’s double-OT winner gives the Broncos the NCHC playoff championship (photo: Tim Brule).
ST. PAUL, Minn. –- It’s pretty safe to say Western Michigan forward Alex Bump had a great time playing back in the arena where he already knew how to light up a scoreboard.
Bump’s second goal of the night and third of the weekend capped a brilliant tournament for both him and his Broncos, who roared back from a three-goal third-period deficit for a thrilling 4-3 victory in double overtime over the Denver Pioneers at Xcel Energy Center, clinching their first Frozen Faceoff championship.
“Yeah, I’ve scored a couple goals here,” Bump laughed. “It’s nothing new, but it’s always fun.
“It’s always great to come back and play in front of a bunch of friends and family.”
Going back to his high school days in nearby Prior Lake, all Bump has been doing is scoring goals in St. Paul. He had a total of seven in a previous state tournament appearance there over three games, and his impressive performance this weekend earned him most outstanding player honors and made Western Michigan just the second team in the NCHC’s 12-year history to win both the regular season and tournament championships in the same season – North Dakota did it in 2020-21.
“I’m just so proud of this group,” said Broncos coach Pat Ferschweiler. “We hung in there, and then I thought we took the game over at the end.
“That is a huge hill to climb, 3-0 down to Denver in the third; that’s such a great hockey team, and they’re so dangerous.”
Jake Fisher, Eric Pohlkamp and Zeev Buium all scored in succession in less than five minutes halfway through regulation to give Denver a three-goal lead, but unfortunately the three-time Frozen Faceoff winners could not make the lead stand and they failed to become the conference’s first repeat tournament champions.
“We looked a little tired in overtime,” said Pioneers coach David Carle. “But we’ll turn the page. We’ll make sure that our bodies are ready to go for Friday.”
Over most of the first 30 minutes of regulation, both teams played very good defense and clogged passing lanes up and down the ice.
Then the floodgates opened with three goals in a span of 4:41 for the Pioneers.
Fisher opened the scoring by putting home a backdoor rebound, then it was Pohlkamp wristing one home from the high slot after a nice drop pass from Rieger Lorenz to double the lead. Then Buium, a first-round draft pick of the hometown Minnesota Wild last year, made a sensational play at the blue line to stop a Broncos clearing attempt before skating in down the slot and beating Hampton Slukynsky stick-side out in front at 10:27. Just like that, it was a 3-0 lead for the defending Frozen Faceoff and national champions.
Who knew the chaos was just getting started?
With Denver starting to dial it back and play a little more defensive, Western Michigan finally got on the board in the opening minutes of the third period as Liam Valente found Zack Sharp on a nice cross-ice pass between the circles and Sharp finished it for his fifth goal, giving the NCHC regular-season champs some life.
Then with 6:41 to go, an offensive faceoff zone win by Owen Michaels got to Bump, who made it a one-goal game. But it was the tying goal by Tim Washe that came in truly stunning fashion. He left a soft liner from the right point go and DU goaltender Matt Davis (46 saves) misplayed it off his glove and it deflected into the net behind him to make it 3-3 with 3:40 left.
As the first overtime began, progressed and expired, it was clear the Broncos were the more energized team and the Pioneers were just about completely out of gas. Bump ended things just 22 seconds into the second overtime, finishing with three goals and one assist for the weekend.
“We’ve been saying it all year; we think we have a really special group in there, a great group of guys,” Washe said.
Hampton Slukynsky made 26 saves for the surging Broncos, who earned the final 1 seed in the NCAA tournament with the victory while Denver dropped to a No. 3 seed. They will be the only two NCHC teams in the national tournament – it is the first time the conference has failed to have at least three NCAA tournament representatives.
NCAA tournament brackets will be revealed Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. CT.
Michigan State has won back-to-back Big Ten playoff titles (photo: Michigan State Athletics).
EAST LANSING, Mich. — With less than 10 minutes to play in the Big Ten championship game at Munn Ice Arena, Michigan State watched a two-goal lead evaporate.
Two periods later, the Spartans became the first team in Big Ten conference history to secure consecutive playoff championships coupled with back-to-back regular-season titles.
Isaac Howard capped an impressive performance with the game-winning goal at 15:09 of double overtime, giving Michigan State a 4-3 win over Ohio State. Howard had a power-play goal in the first period and assisted on the Spartans’ two other goals as well, earning him MVP honors for the game.
“Ike’s fingerprints were all over this game,” said Michigan State coach Adam Nightingale. “I have a hard time believing there’s a better player in the country. He’s doing it on both sides of the puck. We used him on the kill but to score that goal [on a] heck of a play by Charlie Stramel to find him.
“It was great to see guys be rewarded, to try to do something that’s never been done … super proud of the guys.”
The Spartans led 2-0 early in the game on power-play goals by Karsen Dorwart and Howard, who assisted on each other’s tallies. Joe Dunlap got one back for the Buckeyes late in the first to make it 2-1 after one.
After a scoreless second period, the Spartans took a 3-1 lead just 42 seconds into the third period when Tanner Kelly tipped in a feed from Howard on the breakaway and for more than 10 minutes, it looked as though the game would that way.
But at 12:46, Damien Carfagna banked in a goal off of Trey Augustine’s skate to pull the Buckeyes to within one, and at 17:39, Gunnarwolfe Fontaine picked up Riley Thompson’s rebound to the game 3-3.
“When your backs are against the wall, you have no choice,” said Ohio State coach Steve Rohlik. “Our guys, we’re just going to keep going forward. To get that second one was huge and then we just felt it. We wished that period was a little longer. We were kind of in the roll there.”
The Buckeyes outshot the Spartans 11-9 in the first overtime, but the second OT belonged to Michigan State from nearly the get-go. The Spartans wore down the Buckeyes in the second OT, outshooting Ohio State 12-4. Even when the Buckeyes were able to clear the puck out of their own zone, they couldn’t sustain any offense and by the time Howard scored, the game winner felt like an inevitability.
On that goal, Stramel swept the puck from behind the Ohio State net and set up Howard in the slot. Once the puck was on his tape, the Big Ten player of the year and Hobey Baker finalist made no mistake.
“I remember kind of getting in the slot and ‘Strams’ was wheeling up and he made a great play to me,” Howard said. “I just went backhand, forehand, through the goalie’s armpit and then celebrated.”
Nightingale said that he was happy with the way his team “just stayed with it” when the Buckeyes evened the score and had their chances in overtime.
“There was no panic,” said Nightingale. “A lot of time that happens, the wheels can fall off. You’ve just got to believe in what we do and how we need to play to be a good hockey team.”
Both Ohio State (24-13-2) and Michigan State (26-6-4) will move onto NCAA tournament play, with the Spartans earning a No. 1 seed in regional action, wherever they’re sent. The Buckeyes and Spartans may find themselves placed in Toledo next weekend.
Bentley is off to the 2025 NCAA tournament, winners of the Atlantic Hockey America championship (photo: Bentley Athletics).
WORCESTER, Mass. — Bentley defenseman Sam Duerr scored with just over 10 minutes remaining in the third period, and goaltender Connor Hasley stopped 17 shots as the visiting third-seeded Falcons overcame a two-goal deficit in the first period to capture the 2025 Atlantic Hockey America championship with a 6-3 win over Holy Cross Saturday night at the Hart Center.
The championship is Bentley’s first-ever Division I crown and the first championship of any kind since the program won the 1982 ECAC Division III title over then-named Southeastern Massachusetts University (now UMass-Dartmouth). The program elevated to Division I with the discontinuation of Division II hockey but had never before won a league postseason championship game.
“I just thought about building something that this university could be proud of [when I was hired],” said Bentley coach Andy Jones. “I wanted to be proud of something that was sustainable, that the players could be proud of. I thought it was going to be significant challenge, and while it’s one thing to have a blueprint on how to do something, we’re just the guys standing behind the bench. I think our guys love each other, and I’m not tossing that word around lightly. It’s genuine love, and I think that’s how you see it in how he play. It’s how we sacrifice for each other.”
Holy Cross had won the ability to host the championship game by clinching Atlantic hockey’s regular season crown, but the packed house at the Hart Center wasn’t fully sent into a fever until the Crusaders scored twice on the power play. The first included the 24th goal of the season from Hobey Baker Award finalist Liam McLinskey before Matthew Kursonis added another strike with just over three minutes remaining.
The Crusaders previously won 19 of its 25 games where they scored the first goal, but the Falcons rebounded by scoring back-to-back goals in the early stages of the second period. The first came when Tucker Hodgson beat Thomas Gale while skating off of his defensive back line, and Nik Armstrong-Kingkade added a tying goal less than 40 seconds after Bentley drew its first strike.
Defenseman Nick Bochen roofed a backhander from Armstrong-Kingkade less than three minutes after the Falcons tied the score at 2-2 to give Bentley its first lead of the game.
“Our power play was excellent and kept us in it,” said Holy Cross coach Bill Riga. “But we lost our identity there, especially in the second period. It cost us three goals on plays that were uncharacteristic turnovers, and we missed a block on the fourth one. They did a great job of playing to their identity, and I thought they deserved to win tonight.”
Holy Cross was able to gain momentum by scoring a third power play goal in the third period, but the newly-minted tie score lasted until Duerr beat goaltender Thomas Gale through his five-hole for his eighth goal of the season.
AJ Hodges added a late dagger before Armstrong-Kinkade sealed the three-goal win with an empty-net goal.
The game had been billed as a top goaltending showdown between Connor Hasley, the national leader in shutouts, and Gale, named goaltender of the year. Both were exceptional, but Hasley saw 10 less shots than a Holy Cross defense that was outshot 24-13 over the last two periods.
Bentley, which continued setting a program record with its 23rd win of the season, now advances to its first NCAA tournament while gaining a measure of revenge over the team that defeated it in the 2006 Atlantic Hockey championship. Holy Cross, meanwhile, missed the tournament for the 19th consecutive season after advancing to its second final in three years.
“There was one thing that I really wanted to do with this program,” said Bentley captain Ethan Leyh, “and that was to get to the NCAA tournament. That was a goal I put out to myself, and I just believed it. With these 30 guys, they put everything into that goal. To be able to see it, it’s special, but the 30 guys in this locker room, the coaching staff, everyone worked there.
“We believed it, and we’re so excited to keep this journey going because we’re not done yet.”
UMass will be in the NCAA tournament, but where will the Minutemen open play this coming weekend? (photo: UMass Athletics).
Every week for the last two and a half months, I’ve been making my best attempt to tell you what teams would be in the field each week and what each of the four regionals might look like.
Earlier today, I put forward a potential bracket that had not taken account the four championship games that were played this evening. It was a unique situation as, for the first time I can remember, the 16-team field was known with one night to play.
Yes, two automatic bids needed to still be filled, those were taken by Clarkson in the ECAC and Bentley in Atlantic Hockey America. But the other 14 teams in the field knew their fate prior to any pucks dropping on Saturday.
The bracket I presented at the time checked a lot of boxes, particularly keeping No. 1 seeds close to home, avoiding intra-conference matchups and maximizing attendance in all four regions.
Here is that bracket:
Manchester Region
1. Boston College
2. Providence
3. Denver
4. Holy Cross/Bentley
Toledo Region
1. Michigan State
2. Boston University
3. Ohio State
4. Clarkson/Cornell
Allentown Region
1. Maine
2. Connecticut
3. Penn State
4. Quinnipiac
Fargo Region
1. Western Michigan
2. Minnesota
3. Massachusetts
4. Minnesota State
So how much did the results of Saturday’s four conference championship games impact these brackets? The answer: Not a lot.
That said, for one last time, let’s go through the entire process. First, we use the Pairwise Rankings to determine the 16 teams in the field. Six of those teams are automatic qualifiers having won their postseason championship. The other 10 are the highest ranked non-qualifiers. That gives use the following 16 teams:
1. Boston College
2. Michigan State*
3. Maine*
4. Western Michigan*
5. Minnesota
6. Connecticut
7. Boston University
8. Providence
9. Denver
10. Ohio State
11. Massachusetts
12. Quinnipiac
13. Penn State
14. Minnesota State*
15. Cornell*
16. Bentley*
Now, let’s seed the bracket using bracket integrity (i.e. 1 vs. 16, 2 vs. 15, 3 vs. 14, etc.), taking nothing else into consideration for now.
1. Boston College
8. Providence
9. Denver
16. Bentley
2. Michigan State
7. Boston University
10. Ohio State
15. Cornell
3. Maine
6. Connecticut
11. Massachusetts
14. Minnesota State
4. Western Michigan
5. Minnesota
12. Penn State
13. Quinnipiac
The next step is to avoid intra-conference matchups in the opening round, in other words make every effort to keep teams from opening the tournament playing a conference opponent.
Right now, we have one: 6 Connecticut vs. 11 Massachusetts. A quick swap of Penn State and UMass will solve this and resolve another difficulty. By changing Penn State and UMass, you group Penn State with Maine and UConn. Penn State is the host school in Allentown and must play there, so grouping them with teams that are somewhat close is helpful.
That presents us with the following:
1. Boston College
8. Providence
9. Denver
16. Bentley
2. Michigan State
7. Boston University
10. Ohio State
15. Cornell
3. Maine
6. Connecticut
12. Penn State
14. Minnesota State
4. Western Michigan
5. Minnesota
11. Massachusetts
13. Quinnipiac
Now, let’s assign regional cities to each of the four brackets. Boston College, as the top seed, plays at the closest region, Manchester, N.H. The Toledo, Ohio, region is closest to second seed Michigan State. Allentown is closer to Maine than is Fargo, plus fourth-overall Western Michigan is much closer to Fargo. Thus, we have the following:
Manchester Region
1. Boston College
8. Providence
9. Denver
16. Bentley
Toledo Region
2. Michigan State
7. Boston University
10. Ohio State
15. Cornell
Allentown Region
3. Maine
6. Connecticut
12. Penn State
14. Minnesota State
Fargo Region
4. Western Michigan
5. Minnesota
11. Massachusetts
13. Quinnipiac
Is this the final bracket? Well, I see one further change that could bring some teams closer to campus and help drive attendance. Moving Minnesota State from Allentown to Fargo brings the Mavericks closer to home and does the same for Quinnipiac.
With that adjustment, I have my final bracket for this season. Will the committee agree? Tune in to ESPNU tomorrow (Sunday) at 3 p.m. ET for the NCAA Selection Show.
Manchester Region
1. Boston College
8. Providence
9. Denver
16. Bentley
Toledo Region
2. Michigan State
7. Boston University
10. Ohio State
15. Cornell
Allentown Region
3. Maine
6. Connecticut
12. Penn State
13. Quinnipiac
Fargo Region
4. Western Michigan
5. Minnesota
11. Massachusetts
14. Minnesota State
When all is said and done, all that changed from Friday to Saturday was a swap of Penn State and Quinnipiac in the PairWise. And because these two teams occupy the 12 and 13 spots, they simply swapped seeds in Allentown with Penn State now the 3 seed (will playConnecticut) and Quinnipiac the 4 (and thus playing Maine)
The final two teams into the field were 12 Quinnipiac and 13 Penn State. The first two teams left out were 15 Michigan and 16 Arizona State.
MINNEAPOLIS — The Wisconsin Badgers earned their eighth title on Sunday, coming from behind to defeat Ohio State 4-3 in overtime at Ridder Arena on the campus of the University of Minnesota.
