Notre Dame hockey draws matchup with North Dakota in NCAA Tournament
A battle of NDs will take place in the first round of the Division I NCAA Men's Hockey Tournament.
Notre Dame (27-11-0) will take on North Dakota (24-13-1) in the semifinal of the Albany (N.Y.) Regional on Thursday at 6 p.m. EDT on ESPNU.
No. 2 overall seed Minnesota State (35-5-0) and Harvard (21-10-3) will play in the other half of the region Thursday at 12 p.m. The winners of each game will play Saturday for a spot in the Frozen Four.
Notre Dame received the No. 9 overall seed in the 16-team tournament, but it flipped positions in the bracket with No. 10 overall seed St. Cloud State to avoid a conference matchup with North Dakota. Within the Albany Regional, the Irish are the No. 3 seed.
The Irish landed in their sixth consecutive NCAA Tournament, the longest streak in program history and the second-longest active streak behind Minnesota Duluth (7). Notre Dame was scheduled to play in the Albany Regional last season, but it was forced to withdraw from the tournament following COVID-19 issues in the program.
Notre Dame was ranked No. 9 in the latest United States College Hockey Online (USCHO) poll. The Irish were tied at No. 8 with Quinnipiac in the PairWise rankings and ranked No. 9 according to RPI (Ratings Percentage Index).
North Dakota was ranked No. 5 in the USCHO poll, No. 6 in RPI and No. 7 in PairWise.
Notre Dame and North Dakota shared three opponents during the season. Notre Dame went 1-1 against Niagara, 4-0 against Penn State and 1-3 against Minnesota. North Dakota finished 2-0 against Niagara, 0-1 against Penn State and 1-1 against Minnesota.
The Irish finished the regular season with a 15-6 record since Jan. 1. Notre Dame last played on March 12 in a 2-1 loss in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals to Michigan, who went on to win the conference tournament Saturday. The Irish beat the Wolverines the four previous times the two teams played this season. Michigan received the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.
The Fighting Hawks are 11-7-1 since Jan. 1 and lost in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference semifinals to Western Michigan, the No. 3 overall seed in the NCAA field.
Notre Dame enters the NCAA Tournament ranked No. 2 in Division I in penalty killing percentage (.904) and short-handed goals (7). The Irish are also ranked in the top 10 in assists (No. 4, 228), winning percentage (No. 5, .711), scoring defense (No. 6, 2.11 goals allowed per game), scoring margin (No. 7, 1.21), and faceoff win percentage (No. 8, .538).
North Dakota ranked in the top 10 in two team categories: faceoff win percentage (No. 3, .555) and power play goals (No. 10, 33).
Team awards
Notre Dame handed out the following team awards prior to the tournament selection announcement.
• Notre Dame Monogram Club Team MVP: Spencer Stastney
• Brian “Duke” Walsh Offensive Player of the Year: Max Ellis
• William Donald Nyrop Defensive Player of the Year: Adam Karashik
• Most Improved Player: Cam Burke
• Notre Dame Rookie of the Year: Hunter Strand
• The Charles “Lefty” Smith Coaches’ Award: Conor Klaers and Charlie Raith
• Compton Family Leadership in Service Award: Graham Slaggert
• Notre Dame Club of St. Joseph Valley Rockne Student-Athlete Award: Charlie Raith
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