It was a weekend to remember, that’s for sure.
This past weekend, I traveled to Albany on Saturday and Sunday to watch college hockey as the East Regional for the NCAA Division I tournament was being held in the Times Union Center. The winner of the regional would advance to the Frozen Four in Tampa Bay on April 7 and 9.
My Alma mater (well, for my Masters) earned the overall top seed for the tournament and so happened to be placed in Albany. Perfect.
Regional champions… now to the Frozen Four!
This was a great chance to see Quinnipiac, which had been the No. 1 team in the country for much of the season.
The regionals are seeded 1-4, so Quinnipiac faced the fourth seed, RIT, in the opener. Not only was RIT the fourth seed in the tournament, it was the 16th seed out of 16. RIT was used to that, though, as it was 16 last year when it knocked off the overall No. 1.
Not this year.
After a slower first period when QU took a 1-0 lead, the Bobcats turned it up and ended with a 4-0 victory to advance to the regional final on Easter Sunday.
In that game, it pitted QU against UMass Lowell, the second seed in the region. Lowell took a 1-0 lead early but then things came together for Quinnipiac in the second period when three goals were scored, silencing the Lowell crowd and giving the Bobcats some breathing room.
A third-period goal made it 4-1, which was the final score.
It was a lot of fun to watch and now QU is in the Frozen Four for the second time in school history, the first coming in 2013 when the Bobcats reached the championship before losing to rival Yale.
On April 7, Quinnipiac faces Boston College in the national semifinal. A win there and it’s a date in the national title game on April 9 against the winner of North Dakota-Denver.
I’d love to go to Tampa Bay, but it’s a bit out of my price range, so I’ll be watching on ESPN and hoping for the best. It would be nice thing to see QU win the national title, so we’ll see how it goes.
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