MINNEAPOLIS — To say the State of Hockey will be well-represented in this year's men's NCAA Frozen Four might be under-selling things a bit.
Three of the four teams will be from Minnesota, after Minnesota-Duluth won a marathon game over the University of North Dakota and St. Cloud State shut down Boston College. Minnesota State-Mankato became the third team after blanking intra-state rivals the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers 4-0 Sunday night.
The Bulldogs needed five overtimes to defeat the Fighting Hawks in a game that began Saturday night and ended in the early hours of Sunday.
After giving up an early goal to Boston College and Wild first-round pick John Boldy, the Huskies used a three-goal second period to punch their ticket to the Frozen Four for the first time since 2013. The final there was 4-1.
The Mavericks scored twice in the opening frame, and the Gophers never had an answer as MSU-Mankato made history by earning a trip to its first Frozen Four in team history. In another interesting twist, Ryan Sandelin, son of UMD head coach Scott Sandelin, scored an overtime winner on Saturday to help the Mavericks advance, and had a goal and an assist in the first period Sunday against the Gophers, helping the Mavericks take control.
If Mankato can get by St. Cloud State, and UMD can get by the University of Massachusetts, it will be father versus son for the national title.
U-Mass is the only non-Minnesota team headed to the Frozen Four, which begins Thursday, April 8 in Pittsburgh. The brackets have St. Cloud State playing Minnesota State-Mankato at 4 p.m. CST, followed by UMD versus U-Mass at 8 p.m. The winners will face off in the championship game at 6 p.m. Saturday, April 10.
UMD is trying to make it (unofficially) three championships in a row. The Bulldogs won the past two NCAA titles, but no champion was crowned in 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Minnesota-Duluth became the first team to reach four straight Frozen Fours since North Dakota accomplished the feat from 2005-08.
