Saturday, March 28, 2015

Two No. 1s Fall, Two Advance to Boston

Saturday’s action saw Boston University and North Dakota reach the Frozen Four, while RIT’s upset headlined the day.

Two No. 1s Fall, Two Advance to Boston
RIT, making its second NCAA Tournament appearance, is one win away from its second Frozen Four (Photo via RITathletics.com).

NORTHEAST REGIONAL FINAL

Boston University 3, Minnesota Duluth 2: Evan Rodrigues’s second goal of the game – with 2:24 remaining, on the power play – lifted the Terriers to the win and the Frozen Four

WEST REGIONAL FINAL

North Dakota 4, St. Cloud State 1: Four goal scorers allowed North Dakota to erase an early Husky tally and advance to the Frozen Four

EAST REGIONAL

Denver 5, Boston College 2: Two goals from defensemen and the first two of the year for captain Grant Arnold led Denver to the win
Providence 7, Miami 5: The Friars built a 6-2 lead through two periods and survived a Miami rally that cut the lead to one before an empty-net goal sealed it

MIDWEST REGIONAL

RIT 2, Minnesota State 1: Josh Mitchell’s goal – initially waved off – was confirmed upon review and stood up as the game-winner
Nebraska Omaha 4, Harvard 1: Two first-period goals and 33 saves from Ryan Massa lifted the Mavericks to their first NCAA win

SUNDAY

5 p.m. ET: Denver vs. Providence, ESPNU/TSN4
7:30 p.m. ET: Nebraska Omaha vs. RIT, ESPNU, TSN2

BY THE NUMBERS

131 – Denver defenseman Joey LaLeggia, the leading active career scorer remaining in the tournament, has 131 career points after his goal Saturday

29 – Goals on the year from Denver defensemen, the most of any NCAA Tournament team, including two today

22, 21 – Frozen Four appearances for Boston University and North Dakota, respectively, with their wins Saturday; the four teams playing Sunday have combined for 17 (Denver-13, Providence-3, RIT-1)

18 – Third-period saves by Nebraska Omaha’s Ryan Massa, holding off Harvard and allowing the Mavericks to score two empty-net goals and advance

12-1 – No. 1 overall seeds were undefeated in the first round of the 16-team tournament before RIT’s upset of Minnesota State

12 – Goals between Providence (7) and Miami (5), matching the most in a first-round game since 2007 (North Dakota 8, Michigan 5)

8:35 – Total empty-net time for Miami as they outscored Providence 3-1 in the third period and cut the Friar lead to one

5 – Consecutive wins, all in the postseason, for RIT goaltender Jordan Ruby, who had 33 saves

4 – 20-goal scorers on Boston University once Rodrigues hit the milestone; no other team has more than two

3 – Goals from freshmen for Nebraska Omaha; the freshmen on the other 11 teams Saturday combined for two goals

1 – RIT’s win was its first as a Division I team against the No. 1 ranked team and its first against a tournament team this year (1-3-0)