Sunday, March 29, 2015

Friars, Mavs Complete Frozen Four

Providence, Nebraska Omaha set to meet in Boston, joining Boston University, North Dakota.

Friars, Mavs Complete Frozen Four
Providence advances to the Frozen Four for the first time since 1985 (Photo by Stew Milne/PC Athletics).

EAST REGIONAL

Providence 4, Denver 1: Defenseman Tom Parisi’s PPG with 5:01 remaining snapped a 1-1 tie and lifted the Friars to the win

MIDWEST REGIONAL

Nebraska Omaha 4, RIT 0: Goaltender Ryan Massa was perfect and UNO scored four third-period goals – two of them empty-netters – to advance to the Mavericks’ first Frozen Four

FROZEN FOUR

Thurs., April 9 (ESPN2/TSN2)
5 p.m. ET: Providence vs. Nebraska Omaha
8:30 p.m. ET: Boston University vs. North Dakota

Sat., April 11 (ESPN/TSN2)
7:30 p.m. ET: Championship game

BY THE NUMBERS

73 – Saves for Omaha senior Ryan Massa in the Midwest Regional on 74 shots, earning him MVP honors in South Bend

41 – Scoreless minutes in South Bend before Jake Randolph scored at 1:01 of the third period

30 – Years since Providence’s last Frozen Four appearance, in 1985

18 – Years Nebraska Omaha has sponsored hockey; its two previous NCAA Tournament appearances both ended in the first round

8 – No. 4 seeds that have reached the Frozen Four in the last eight years, including Providence; none had done so in the previous five years (2003-07)

5-3 – Record of teams this weekend that didn’t play last weekend, including Providence and Nebraska Omaha

3 – Assists for Providence freshman Jake Walman, a career high

2 – Goals from freshmen for Omaha Sunday after three rookies scored on Saturday

0 – Five-on-five goals in the Providence-Denver game; the first three tallies came on the power play and the last two were empty netters