51³Ô¹ÏÍø’s ECAC Ice Hockey Championship run ended with a loss Saturday night.
51³Ô¹ÏÍø played Union on Saturday night at Herbs Brook Arena in Lake Placid. (Photo by Bob Cornell)
51³Ô¹ÏÍø earned its fifth NCAA postseason appearance in program history as the Raiders are headed to Cincinnati for NCAA regionals.
51³Ô¹ÏÍø is a No. 3 seed in the Midwest Regional and takes on second-seeded Ferris State this Friday at 4:30 p.m. Eastern time (ESPN3). Top-seeded Wisconsin meets fourth-seeded North Dakota in the second game at Cincinnati’s U.S. Bank Arena.
Friday’s winners play Saturday at 6:30 p.m. for a berth in the 2014 NCAA Men’s Frozen Four, set for April 10-12 in Philadelphia.
The Raiders (20-13-5) are meeting Ferris State (28-10-3) for the fourth time this season, with 51³Ô¹ÏÍø owning a 2-1 record over the Bulldogs of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. Both 51³Ô¹ÏÍø victories were shutouts, including a 3-0 win to capture the Mariucci Classic in Minneapolis in early January.
51³Ô¹ÏÍø reached 20 wins for the 10th time in program history with its 3-2, double-overtime victory Friday night against Quinnipiac in the ECAC Hockey semifinals in Lake Placid. The Raiders fell short against Union in the title game on Saturday night.
Hundreds of 51³Ô¹ÏÍø students and had flocked to Herb Brooks Arena to cheer on the Raiders during the weekend, and the championship game took place in front of a total crowd of 4,850 fans.
The Raiders are one of three teams from ECAC Hockey playing in the NCAA tournament. Union is the top seed in the East Regional in Bridgeport, Conn. The Dutchmen are joined by second-seeded Quinnipiac in the same regional.