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NCAA Tournament Notebook: Day 3

By Jim Smith, 03/29/21, 6:45AM EDT

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Field is set for frozen four

     The field is set for the NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Championship Frozen Four after St. Cloud State and Minnesota State captured their respective regional titles. Three-quarters of the Frozen Four teams are from Minnesota.

    Minnesota-Duluth and Massachusetts previously qualified for the four-team event.

    The last time three teams from the same state appeared in the Frozen Four was in 1992 when Michigan had a trio of qualifiers.

    All four of this year’s top seeds in the regional locations were eliminated from the tournament.

    The St. Cloud Huskies overcame allowing Boston College to score the first goal of the game in the opening period and losing one of their top scorers, Easton Brodzinski to injury in the opening minute of the second period.

    The Huskies tallied four unanswered goals for the 4-1 win in the Albany Regional Championship game.

    St. Cloud goaltender, David Hrenak collected 26 saves.

    St. Cloud will be making their second appearance in the Frozen Four. The Huskies last qualified in 2013.

   After earning their first ever NCAA Ice Hockey Tournament victory in their opening round game against Quinnipiac, the Minnesota State Mavericks earned a trip to the Frozen Four after defeating the University of Minnesota 4-0 in the Loveland Regional.

    The Mavericks defense limited the Gophers to 22 total shots (only nine after two periods) and goaltender Dryden McKay earned his 10th shutout of the 2020-21 season.

     As the four teams head to Pittsburgh for the semi-final games on April 8th, Minnesota-Duluth is the lowest regional seed to advance. The Bulldogs will be making their fourth consecutive Frozen Four appearance and will be seeking their third consecutive title.

     Massachusetts, Minnesota State and St. Cloud State were each number two seeds in their respective regional tournaments.

   

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