March 27, 2004

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. ­ The Western Collegiate Hockey Association, with a record-tying five teams in the NCAA Division 1 Men's Ice Hockey Championship tournament for the third time in the last four years, is guaranteed at least two berths in the 2004 Frozen Four in two weeks as a result of regional action so far this weekend. WCHA-member teams University of North Dakota, University of Minnesota, University of Minnesota-Duluth, University of Denver and University of Wisconsin were a combined 5-0 in Regional play heading into Saturday night's matchups.

No. 1 West Regional seed North Dakota (30-7-3) will take on No. 2 seed Denver (24-12-5) Saturday (March 27) night at 7:00 pm MT at the Colorado Springs World Arena, with the winner of that matchup advancing to the Frozen Four in Boston, Mass., April 8-10. The Fighting Sioux shutout No. 4 seed Holy Cross, 3-0, on Friday evening while the No. 2-seed Pioneers defeated No. 3 seed Miami, 3-2.

No. 1 Midwest Regional seed Minnesota (27-13-3) will take on No. 2 seed Minnesota-Duluth (27-12-4) on Sunday afternoon at 1:00 pm ET in that championship game at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids. The two-time defending national champion Golden Gophers won 5-2 over No. 4 seed Notre Dame on Saturday afternoon while the Bulldogs blanked No. 3-seed Michigan State, 5-0.

In Minnesota's victory against Notre Dame Saturday, winger Thomas Vanek scored a pair of goals, including the eventual game-winner at 16:24 of the second period, defenseman Chris Harrington had two assists and Kellen Briggs stopped 20 shots.

In Minnesota-Duluth's win over Michigan State Saturday, winger Junior Lessard scored twice, center Evan Schwabe had the game-winning goal and two assists, and Isaac Reichmuth stopped all 23 shots on goal.

Out at the East Regional at Pepsi Arena in Albany, N.Y., on Friday evening, No. 3 seed Wisconsin (22-12-8) shutout No. 2 seed Ohio State, 1-0 in overtime on a goal by defenseman Dan Boeser, and the Badgers are thus taking on No. 1 seed Maine in the championship game Saturday night. A victory by Wisconsin would give the WCHA three teams in the Frozen Four.

The other of the four NCAA regionals ­ the Northeast Regional at Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, N.H., is featuring No. 1 seed Boston College, No. 2 seed Michigan, No. 3 seed New Hampshire and No. 4 seed Niagara. In the first game there on Saturday afternoon, Boston College defeated Niagara, 5-2, while Michigan knocked off New Hampshire, 4-1. In the championship game on Sunday, Boston College will face Michigan, with the winner advancing to the Frozen Four.

Saturday Afternoon NCAA Midwest Regional Summaries, @ Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Notre Dame 2 vs Minnesota 5
1st: G1 ND - Cory McLean 10 (Aaron Gill, Mike Walsh), 0:54; G2 ND - Gill 17 (Walsh, Rob Globke), PPG, 19:18. 2nd: G3 UM - Matt Koalska 13 (Thomas Vanek, Chris Harrington), 0:26; G4 UM - Danny Irmen 14 (Harrington), PPG, 9:13; G5 UM - Vanek 25 (unassisted), 16:24. 3rd: G6 UM - Vanek 26 (Koalska, Keith Ballard), ENG, 19:24. Score by Periods: ND 2-0-0 = 2; UM 0-3-2 = 5. Pen: ND 8-16; UM 8-16. PPs: ND 1-5; UM 1-5. Saves: Morgan Cey (ND), 13-18-9 = 40 (59:01); Kellen Briggs (UM), 6-7-7 = 20 (60:00). Att: NA. Time: 2:25.

Michigan State 0 vs Minnesota-Duluth 5
1st: G1 UMD - Evan Schwabe 18 (Justin Williams, Tim Hambly), 12:16. 2nd: G2 UMD - Jesse Unklesbay 5 (Nick Anderson), 1:14; G3 UMD - Brett Hammond 7 (Marco Peluso, Jay Hardwick), 5:36; G4 UMD - Junior Lessard 29 (Schwabe, Hardwick), 8:13; G5 UMD - Lessard 30 (Schwabe, Tyler Brosz), PPG, 13:01. 3rd: No scoring. Score by Periods: MSU 0-0-0 = 0; UMD 1-4-0 = 5. Pen: MSU 5-10; UMD 4-8. PPs: MSU 0-4; UMD 1-5. Saves: Dominic Vicari (MSU), 7-4-x = 11 (28:13); Matt Migliaccio (MSU), x-7-5 = 12 (31:47); Isaac Reichmuth (UMD), 8-3-12 = 23 (60:00). Att: 5,325. Time: 2:24.

© 2009 CBS Interactive. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy (UPDATED) | Terms of Use | About Us | Advertise | Feedback | XML RSS Feeds