Notre Dame hockey: Irish learn NCAA Tournament destination, opponents

IMG_9992by:Tyler Horka•03/20/22•

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The NCAA Tournament Field is set. Notre Dame knows when, where and who it has to play in the Fighting Irish’s quest to reach the Frozen Four for the first time since 2018 and third time in the last six seasons.

Head coach Jeff Jackson and the Irish are off to New York to participate as the No. 3 seed in the Albany Regional. Notre Dame is paired up with No. 1 seed Minnesota State, No. 2 seed North Dakota and No. 4 seed Harvard. Notre Dame and North Dakota will meet in each team’s respective first matchup of the tournament this Thursday, March 24, at 6 p.m. ET.

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Notre Dame (27-11-0) finished third in the regular season Big Ten standings and lost to Michigan in the Big Ten semifinals, 2-1. The Irish beat the Wolverines, the No. 1 overall seed in the 16-team bracket, all four times in the regular season. North Dakota (24-13-1), meanwhile, finished second behind Denver in the regular season NCHC standings. The Fighting Hawks lost to Western Michigan, 4-2, in the NCHC semifinals.

Should Notre Dame beat North Dakota, the Irish will play in the regional final on March 26. Time for that game is TBD. All regional games are single-elimination. The winner of the four regionals will play in the Frozen Four in Boston April 7-9. Single-elimination national semifinal games will played played on the 7th. The national championship game takes place on the 9th.

Notre Dame played for the national title in 2018 against Minnesota Duluth. The Irish lost 2-1. Boston College also beat the Irish in the 2008 national championship game, 4-2. Jackson restored the Notre Dame program to prominence and has the Irish ready to roll in March time and time again. He’ll try to lead the Irish into being one of the final four teams standing yet again, something he has accomplished four times since taking over as head coach in 2005.

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Here is a look at all four regionals. The Albany Regional is paired with the Loveland Regional. The Albany Regional is paired with the Worcester Regional.

Allentown Regional

  1. Michigan (29-9-1)
  2. Quinnipiac (31-6-1)
  3. St. Cloud State (18-14-4)
  4. American International (22-12-3)

Loveland Regional

  1. Denver (27-9-1)
  2. Minnesota Duluth (21-15-4)
  3. Michigan Tech (21-12-3)
  4. UMass Lowell (21-10-3)

Worcester Regional

  1. Western Michigan (25-11-1)
  2. Minnesota (24-12-0)
  3. UMass (22-12-2)
  4. Northeastern (25-12-1)

Albany Regional

  1. Minnesota State (35-5-0)
  2. North Dakota (24-13-1)
  3. Notre Dame (27-11-0)
  4. Harvard (21-10-3)

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