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Either the University of New Hampshire’s 22-9-4 Wildcats or the 24-14-2 Denver Pioneers will stand in the way of the University of Maine Black Bears’ aspirations to make their fifth appearance in an NCAA Hockey Tournament semifinal.
The 30-5-6 Black Bears were seeded second by the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee on Sunday. This Saturday at 4:30 p.m. at the Worcester (Mass.) Centrum, they will play the winner of Friday’s 4:30 game between the third-seeded Wildcats and sixth-seeded Pioneers.
In the other bracket, top seed Boston University, 28-6-3, will await the winner of Friday’s 8 p.m. game between No. 4 Clarkson, 23-9-4, and No. 5 Lake Superior State, 22-11-6. BU’s Saturday game will start at 7:30.
In the Western Regional, to be played at the Dane County Coliseum in Madison, Wisc., the Friday games will pit No. 3 Minnesota, 23-13-5, against No. 6 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 18-13-4, at 5 p.m. with the other game sending No. 4 Wisconsin, 23-14-4, against No. 5 Michigan State, 25-11-3 at 8:30.
On Saturday, second seed Colorado College, 30-11-1, will play the winner of the Minnesota-RPI game at 4:30 and top seed Michigan, 28-7-1, will take on the Wisconsin-Michigan State winner at 8.
Maine defenseman and captain Chris Imes said the Bears were “pretty happy” about the seedings.
“We were a little worried about getting the second seed. We struggled a little at the end of the season but we feel we definitely deserve it,” said Imes. “We obviously have a lot of respect for UNH but we’ve beaten them in the past.”
Maine has won three of the four games between the two this season. Maine has not played Denver.
“We like this a lot better than playing the Lake Superior-Clarkson winner,” added Imes.
“Everybody was a little scared about playing Lake Superior State,” said senior defenseman Dave MacIsaac, noting that the defending national champion Lakers have been on a tear of late. “UNH is an explosive team with great offensive players. They can really jump on you if you make a mistake. We don’t know too much about Denver but I’m sure we’ll find out more about them as the week goes on.”
Maine Coach Shawn Walsh said, “We worked hard for a bye all year. It has been a goal of ours. We didn’t return a 10-goal scorer this season so we’re proud of what we’ve accomplished. Now the real season starts.”
He added that both teams are fast and they have “great transition games. So we’ve got to focus on defense.”
NCAA Hockey Tourney
East Regional
At Worcester, Mass. (Game times are tentative) Friday, March 24 First Round
No. 3 New Hampshire (22-9-4) vs. No. 6 Denver (24-14-2), 4:30 p.m.
No. 4 Clarkson (23-9-4) vs. No. 5 Lake Superior State (22-11-6), 8 p.m.
Saturday, March 25 Quarterfinals
No. 2 Maine (29-5-6) vs. New Hampshire-Denver winner, 4 p.m.
No. 1 Boston University (28-6-3) vs. Clarkson-Lake Superior winner, 7:30 p.m.
West Regional At Madison, Wis. First Round
No. 3 Michigan State (25-11-3) vs. No. 6 Wisconsin (23-14-4)
No. 4 Minnesota (23-13-5) vs. No. 5 RPI (18-13-4)
Quarterfinals
No. 2 Colorado College (30-11-1) vs. Michigan State-Wisconsin winner
No. 1 Michigan (28-7-1) vs. Minnesota-RPI winner
Thursday, March 30 At Providence, R.I. Semifinals
Saturday, April 1 National Championship
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